Health Ministry: 23 wounded residents of Karabakh transported to Armenia

YEREVAN, September 24. /ARKA/. Twenty-three ambulances escorted by medics have transported 23 citizens of Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia. They were heavily wounded in the September 19 offensive, launched by Azerbaijan against Nagorno-Karabakh,, the Armenian Health Ministry reported.

On September 19 Azerbaijan launched an "anti-terror" operation in the region demanding that Karabakh's forces raise a white flag, disband their armed forces and dissolve their "illegal regime".

After 24-hour fierce fighting the ethnic Armenian authorities in Stepanakert gave in. Under the terms of the truce, outlined by Azerbaijan and the command of the Russian peacekeeping contingent on the ground, Karabakh armed forces must commit to being completely disbanded as well as disarmed.

According to the Nagorno-Karabakh human rights defender’s office, more than 10 thousand people have been evacuated from the communities seized by Azerbaijanis, several thousand cannot find their missing relatives -women, children and elderly people.

As of 21:30 September 20, the number of casualties stood at 200, including children, the number of wounded at more than 400.

Azerbaijani officials and Karabakh's Armenian representatives had the first meeting today for "re-integration" talks in the Azerbaijani town of Yevlakh. -0-