NKR Ceasefire Holds, Dead Transferred

According to the statement, there were signs that the bodies had been mutilated.

The statement continued, “Those acts, being a flagrant manifestation of inhumanity, run counter to the laws and customs of war and are in grave violation of the international humanitarian law, in particular, the Convention (I) for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded and Sick in Armed Forces in the Field (1949), Geneva Convention (III) relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War (1949) and the Additional Protocol to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949 relating to the Protection of Victims of International Armed Conflicts (Protocol I).”

In other news, representatives of the military and political leadership in Nagorno-Karabagh argue that militants that once was trained by or fought along with ISIS and other terrorist groups in Syria and Iraq were involved in atrocities against the Armenian military and civilians during the four-day war with Azerbaijan in early April.

As Azerbaijan renewed hostilities in Nagorno-Karabagh on April 2, its commando units carried out a raid inside the border village of Talish in the north of Nagorno-Karabagh. Evidence that transpired later suggests that they tortured elderly members of a local family whom their children did not manage to evacuate in time. All three, including a 92-year-old woman, were brutally killed and the dead bodies of at least two of the elderly people were mutilated.

This and other crimes committed against Armenians, including the beheading of an ethnic Yezidi serviceman of Nagorno-Karabagh’s Defense Army, has sparked an outrage in the Armenian society against the background of reports that Azerbaijan has been using mercenaries, including possible ISIS-trained militants, in its operations.

“Azerbaijan has brought out to the frontlines mercenaries who are wanted by different countries. All this shows that Azerbaijan flagrantly violates all international humanitarian norms and conventions, in particular the Geneva Convention, using weapons that have destructive features in targeting civilian facilities, involving mercenaries and international terrorists in its armed forces,” David Babayan, a spokesman for the Nagorno-Karabagh president, said.

Political analyst Aghasi Yenokyan thinks that if allegations that Gray Wolves and ISIS militants fought for Azerbaijan are proved, it will trigger a great international response and will change the configuration and meaning of the conflict as terrorism has become a global threat today.