Leaked Azerbaijani Document: 558 Soldiers Killed and 1293 Wounded During 4-Day April War

YEREVAN — Political scientist Hrant Melik-Shahnazaryan has published a document at voskanapat.info website which makes new discoveries over the number of losses and wounded of Azerbaijan during the April four-day war of 2016. According to the leaked document, Azerbaijani losses numbered 558 killed and 1293 wounded soldiers

Chief of the general staff of the Azerbaijani armed forces Najmaddin Sadikhov addressed the document to defense minister Zakir Hasanov on April 28, 2016.

“To the Minister of Defense of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Colonel-General Z. Hasanov

Dear Mr. Minister,

I report to you that the total losses of the Azerbaijani armed forces’ staff in the period from April 2 to 6 of 2016 were 558 killed and 1293 wounded soldiers. 58 of the wounded soldiers are in critical condition. 52 out of 558 killed soldiers cannot be identified.

205 out of the killed soldiers are servicemen of the special-purpose forces of the defense ministry. 98 of them have been killed during military operations in Talish-Aghdara (Martakert), 32 in Fuzuli-Jabrayil, and 75 have been killed during the military operations conducted at central directions.

In order to eliminate the negative criticisms of the Azerbaijani society towards the armed forces, the further fall of the moral and psychological spirit of the army staff and the panic of the staff, I propose:

1. Not to conduct the transfer of the bodies of killed soldiers of the Azerbaijani armed forces at the same time (about 60 per week).
2. To carry out the funerals of some of the killed soldiers during the night hours under supervision in agreement with their parents.
3.  To allocate 5000 manats from the defense ministry’s fund to families of the victims
   Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Azerbaijan, First Deputy Minister of Defense, Colonel-General N. Sadikhov”, stated in the document.

According to Melik-Shahnazaryan, this report by the chief of the general staff of the Azerbaijani armed forces, numerous assessments in Azerbaijani media and especially in social networks speak about the fact that Azerbaijan faces a serious problem to really assess the effectiveness of its policy. There is a problem of not cheating, respecting each other, not bringing the lie to a state policy level, giving realistic assessment to facts. One thing that has been consistently avoided by the Aliyev regime, and as a result it received a society with defeatist mood. People who already urge him to accept the defeat. And this demand day by day becomes more and more heard.