Author: George Mamian

 16:31, 5 November, 2020

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 5, ARMENPRESS. Kosovo’s leader Hashim Thaci has resigned after confirming that he is indicted for war crimes and crimes against humanity that allegedly happened during the 1998-99 war to gain independence from Serbia. Thaci was a guerilla leader at that time.

He said he was stepping down in accordance to his earlier pledge to resign from his position if he was indicted.

Thaci said at a news conference that his sources had informed him that the Kosovo Specialist Chamber (KSC) – a court of Kosovo located in The Hague mandated to probe allegations of war crimes by the Kosovo Liberation Army in 1998-1999,  had confirmed his indictment.

Editing by Stepan Kocharyan

 12:50, 4 November, 2020

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 4, ARMENPRESS. At least 46 civilians were killed and 144 others wounded in Artsakh since the Azerbaijani attacks began on September 27, the Human Rights Defender of Artsakh Artak Beglaryan said at a November 4 news conference, presenting the civilian casualties. 

“During a fact finding mission we recorded at least 46 killed civilian persons, at least 144 civilian wounded persons. A part of the Azeri attacks were carried out using cluster munitions, a type of weapon banned under international humanitarian law, especially in case of using it near civilian facilities. An overwhelming majority of our victims were killed or wounded from these types of weapons,” Beglaryan said.

Significant damages were inflicted upon the real estate and personal property of citizens, as well as public and industrial infrastructure, he said.

“More than 13800 units of private real estate was damaged, more than 3100 units of infrastructure, public and industrial facilities were damaged, including power supply stations, networks, water supply and gas supply infrastructure. At least 2100 cars or other personal property was damaged,” he said.

Beglaryan said that Azerbaijan continues to ignore the rules of international humanitarian law and political agreements and carries on deliberate attacks on civilian population and infrastructure of Artsakh.

Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan

 11:30, 4 November, 2020

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 4, ARMENPRESS. The Islamic State terrorist organization has claimed responsibility for the November 2 Vienna shooting which left 4 people dead in the central part of the Austrian capital, France24 reported.

Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz had called the shooting “a terror attack”.

According to authorities the attack was carried out by 4 gunmen. One of the perpetrators was shot dead by police. A manhunt is underway to apprehend at least one other suspect.

Editing by Stepan Kocharyan

 16:41, 3 November, 2020

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 3, ARMENPRESS. Several artillery shells fired by Azerbaijan in the direction of Armenian units landed in Iranian territory, Armenian Defense Ministry spokesperson Shushan Stepanyan said.

“The Azerbaijani side opened artillery fire in the direction of Armenian units. Some of the shells fell into Iranian territory,” Stepanyan said.

Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan

 11:12,

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 26, ARMENPRESS. 973 new COVID-19 cases and 16 deaths were recorded over the past day in Armenia, the Centers for Disease Control said.

The cumulative total number of confirmed cases has reached 78810.

254 patients recovered, bringing the number of recoveries to 51162.

The death toll reached 1196. This number doesn’t include the deaths of 339 other individuals (2 in last 24 hours) infected with the virus, who according to authorities died from other pre-existing conditions.

2201 tests were conducted over the past day.

As of 11:00, October 26, the number of active cases stood at 26113.

Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan

 14:59,

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 23, ARMENPRESS. Azerbaijani authorities are not disclosing information on their military casualties to their own public, however the number of new graves at the military cemetery of the 4^th largest city of Mingachevir (population of 100,000), gives an approximate picture about the volumes of the losses, BBC Russia reported, noting that it found dozens of new graves there.

“So many were buried here since the escalation of the Karabakh conflict,” the article said.

BBC mentioned that Azeri leader Ilham Aliyev is withholding information on casualties for now. “The Azeri public will be informed about it after the completion of the active phase of the military operations,” Aliyev had said in an earlier interview to the Russian First Channel.

The article also noted that according to the Armenian Defense Ministry the Azeri military lost 6309 troops in between September 27 and October 20.

On October 23, the Armenian Defense Ministry said that the Azeri military casualties are nearing 10,000.

Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan