Disclosure of the number of Syrian dead in the battles of Karabakh

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that at least 64 Syrian fighters from pro-Turkish factions died in the battles between Armenian separatists and Azerbaijani forces in Nagorno Karabakh.

The observatory said the dead are among 1,200 fighters from pro-Turkish factions that have been sent to fight alongside Azerbaijan since last week, while previously it had indicated the number as 850.

At least 36 of them died in the fighting in the past 48 hours alone, according to the observatory, bringing the total death toll from 28 to 64.

Armenia accused Turkey of sending Syrian fighters to fight alongside Azerbaijan in ongoing battles over the breakaway Nagorno Karabakh region, while both Baku and Ankara deny this.

French President Emmanuel Macron asked Turkey to provide explanations about the arrival of what he described as jihadists in Azerbaijan.

He said intelligence reports indicated that 300 Syrian fighters belonging to “jihadist groups” were flown from the city of Aleppo through Gaziantep, Turkey, to Azerbaijan.

Battles broke out between Armenia and Azerbaijan on Sunday in the context of the conflict over the Nagorno Karabakh region, a mainly Armenian enclave, whose secession from Baku was announced after a bloody war in the 1990s.