Armenian Defense Ministry Says 24 Soldiers Missing After Border Clash With Azerbaijan

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Communication is lost with 24 Armenian soldiers after recent border clashes with Azerbaijan, and 13 more troops were captured, the Armenian Defence Ministry said on Wednesday.

"On the Armenian side, one killed, 13 soldiers captured. During the hostilities, communication with 24 servicemen was lost, their fate is currently unknown. Intensive work is underway to find servicemen. Two combat positions came under the control of the enemy," the ministry said.

Armenia also claimed that up to 70 Azerbaijani troops were killed or injured during the clash, and Baku lost four armoured personnel carriers, one Sandcat armoured vehicle, and five other vehicles.

"With the mediation of the Russian side, negotiations are underway to resolve the situation and return the captured Armenian servicemen," the ministry said.

A ceasefire between Yerevan and Baku after recent border clashes is now largely being observed, the Armenian Defenсe Ministry added.

"As of 10.00 [06.00 GMT] on 17 November, the situation in the eastern border zone, where Armenian positions were attacked by units of the armed forces of Azerbaijan recently, is relatively stable, the ceasefire agreement is mainly observed," the ministry said in a statement.

Armenian Ambassador to Russia Vardan Toghanyan told Sputnik on Wednesday that the situation is stable after the recent border clash with Baku but nothing can be ruled out when commenting on Yerevan’s request to the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) to address the situation.

"It's hard to say: it depends on how the situation will develop, we have what we have. Let's see how events will develop," the diplomat said when asked if Yerevan plans to appeal to CSTO for help over the border situation.

Toghanyan added that contacts between Yerevan and Moscow over recent Armenia-Azerbaijan clashes continue.

"Negotiations are underway. This issue is still present, and we are talking about it," the diplomat said, when asked if Yerevan is raising an issue of Armenians captured by Azerbaijan after the Tuesday clash.

In turn, the Azerbaijani Defence Ministry said on Wednesday that seven Azerbaijani soldiers were killed and 10 others got injured during recent border clashes against Armenia.

"Seven Azerbaijani servicemen were killed in the clashes, ten were wounded," the ministry said, adding that the situation at the border has stabilized.

On Tuesday, the Armenian Foreign Ministry said the Azerbaijani armed forces invaded Armenian territory in the east, which led to casualties. Yerevan reported 12 Armenian soldiers taken captive by Azerbaijan. Baku, in turn, accused Yerevan of purposely aggravating the situation and being uninterested in border delimitation.