ICRC ready to assist in returning body of killed Azerbaijani soldier

By Azernews

By Rashid Shirinov

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is ready to assist in returning the body of Azerbaijani soldier, Chingiz Gurbanov, who was killed as a result of the Armenian provocation on December 29.

Head of Public Relations Department of Azerbaijani representation of the ICRC Ilaha Huseynova made the remark while talking to Trend on on December 30.

“Currently, the Committee is holding negotiations with both sides. The Committee is monitoring the situation and is ready to provide a neutral mediation in order to return the soldier’s body,” said Huseynova.

A reconnaissance group of the Armenian Armed Forces tried to violate the Azerbaijan-Armenia state border on Thursday morning. The Armenian group found itself in the ambush of the Azerbaijani army while violating the border.

The enemy was forced to retreat, according to the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry's message.

Armenia broke out a lengthy war against Azerbaijan laying territorial claims on its South Caucasus neighbor. Since a war in the early 1990s, Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan's territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding regions. More than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed and over 1 million were displaced as a result of the large-scale hostilities.

Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding districts.