22.03.21 digest: Armenia loses 2,624 soldiers in Karabakh war; Armenian army has new chief?

Armenian News - NEWS.am presents the daily digest of Armenia-related top news as of 22.03.21:

APPOINTMENT

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan issued a statement on Monday noting that Artak Davtyan is considered to have been appointed, by virtue of law, Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Armenia.

On March 10, the PM submitted a proposal to the President to appoint Davtyan to the aforesaid post, also attaching a respective draft decree.

But on March 11, the PM’s office received the President's objections to the above-mentioned draft.

The objections submitted by the President, however, were not accepted by the PM, about which a letter was sent to the President on the same day.

As per the PM’s statement, taking into account the fact that the President did not sign the draft submitted by the PM and did not apply to the Constitutional Court within the timeframes set by the Law on Military Service and the Status of a Soldier, guided by the Constitution as well as the aforesaid law, Artak Davtyan is considered appointed, by virtue of law, to the post of Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Armenia as of Monday.

CASUALTIES

The Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) defense army has reported that 192 more soldiers, reservists, and volunteers had fallen during the recent battles for the defense of the homeland.

According to the official data published by the Artsakh Defense Army, the number of such casualties from the Armenian side has now reached 2,624.

MISSING

Contact with two contract servicemen was lost Sunday, in the conditions of a severe snowstorm, and while they were heading from one outpost to another outpost of a military unit, the Armenian defense ministry noted.

It added that the incessant snowstorm hinders the search and rescue operations that started Sunday.

All the necessary measures are taken to find these soldiers.

SEARCHES

The planned search in the Hadrut region of Artsakh for the remains of soldiers fallen and for those still missing during the recent hostilities has been postponed due to low visibility.

A total of 1,518 bodies have been retrieved so far as a result of the search operations since the ceasefire was established in November 2020.

MISSING

The burnt body of a 48-year-old resident of Karabakh Vrezh Poghosyan was found in the administrative territory of the region.

Poghosyan had left his house at around 11 p.m. on Saturday and hadn’t returned.

The Investigative Committee of Artsakh is conducting a preliminary investigation to clarify the details of the incident.

POWS

Armenian POWs’ torture by Azerbaijan may amount to crimes against humanity, Armenian MFA spokesperson Anna Naghdalyan noted.

"The Human Rights Watch documented large-scale war crimes committed against the Armenian prisoners of war (PoWs)," she added.

The report establishes that a number of Armenian soldiers were last seen in Azerbaijan’s custody and Azerbaijan has failed to account for them. This indicates a high probability of large-scale enforced disappearances not only among soldiers, but also captive civilians.

The continued captivity of the Armenian PoWs and civilian hostages after four months of ceasefire clearly demonstrates that the violations of international humanitarian law by Azerbaijan are ongoing.

COVID-19

506 new cases of the coronavirus were confirmed in Armenia, and the total number of these cases has reached 184,219 in the country.

Also, 12 more deaths from COVID-19 were registered, making the respective total 3,360 cases.

Three more cases of COVID-19 patients dying from some other illnesses were recorded in Armenia in the past day, and the corresponding overall death toll in the country is 860 now.

The number of people who have recovered over the past one day is 432, the total respective number so far is 168,721.

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