Twenty Armenian soldiers have been killed and 26 others have gone missing since the outbreak of heavy fighting around Nagorno-Karabakh on Saturday morning, the Karabakh Armenian military said on Monday evening.
A spokesman for Karabakh’s Defense Army also said that 72 of its servicemen have been wounded in fierce clashes with Azerbaijani forces at northern and southern sections of “the line of contact” around Karabakh.
Hostilities there continued throughout the day, with Karabakh Armenian forces apparently trying to recapture more of their positions that were seized by the Azerbaijani side on Saturday.
Each warring side claimed to have inflicted significant losses on the other. They also continued to accuse one another of shelling towns and villages located close to the frontline.
An RFE/RL correspondent and cameramen visited the northeastern Karabakh town of Martaker on Monday as it again came under artillery fire from Azerbaijani army positions, which destroyed several houses. Azerbaijani rockets and shells also hit two utility poles there, disrupting electricity supplies in the town. The supplies were restored several hours later.
The continuing shelling kept public schools and shops in Martakert closed and forced many local residents to hide in bomb shelters or their private basements. Some locals have left the town in recent days. The municipal administration said that it has no plans yet to evacuate the remaining population.