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Political Scientist Sergey Minasyan considers the statement over the recent incidents across the Line of Contact between Nagorno Karabakh and Azerbaijan issued by the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs as strange. 

“The Minsk Group Co-Chairs are trying to make use of their leverage to the best possible way. At the same time the part of the statement reading ‘the sides are accusing each other’ for escalation is strange, especially in the light their call for returning the bodies of the dead. This is the case given the fact that the matter is about the bodies of only Azerbaijani special forces,” the Director at the “Caucasus” Institute told Panorama.am when asked to comment on the statement.

In Minasyan’s words, it is more than evident which side is to be blamed for [escalating the situation].

“I have no doubt the Minsk Group is well aware about the details of the incident. It remains to understand whether the Minsk Group to comes up with such strange statements out of diplomatic style or other reasons,” Minasyan stressed.

To remind, on the night of 25 February, at around 03:00 and 04:00, the Azerbaijani forces made attack attempts at the southeastern (Martuni) and eastern (Akna) directions of the Line of Contact between the Nagorno Karabakh Republic (NKR) and Azerbaijan. The NKR frontline units timely detected the advancement of the Azerbaijani forces in both directions due to video devices and repelled them to their positions causing losses. Due to the countermeasures taken by the Armenian forces, the adversary suffered casualties and has wounded. Several bodies were left in the neutral zone.  According to the obtained data by respective agencies of the NKR Defense Army, the head of the Intelligence Unit at 181st Brigade of Azerbaijani Armed Forces, Major Abdulayev, Commander at a Brigade Intelligence division, senior-lieutenant Ashimli Shakhlar, intelligence serviceman Adehuseinov and two more soldiers with one of them identified as a sapper were among the killed.   

On Sunday the Co-Chairs of the Minsk group called upon the parties to keep heavy military equipment, which had been moved earlier close to the LOC, in its present positions and to allow recovery of the dead, as it was agreed under mediation of the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office.