ARMENIA vs AZERBAIJAN: FULL-TIME SCORE

It's well known that the recent war between Armenia and Azerbaijan was won by Azerbaijan, which managed to win back territory occupied by Armenia in the 1990s, as well as a slice of the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh territory. 

But how well did each side fight? 

While it is clear that Azerbaijain had more money, weapons, and resources, it seems that in pure body count terms, the Armenians came out on top, edging the Azerbaijanis by 3483 killed to 2317. The Armenian kill total includes 2,783 regular Azerbaijani servicemen plus 100 still missing (presumed dead), and 600 mercenaries, most of whom were probably drafted from the Idlib enclave in Syria.

As reported by China Global Television Network:

Azerbaijan said on Thursday that it lost 2,783 servicemen in its latest conflict with Armenia in Nagorno-Karabakh, which erupted in late September and was brought to a Russia-brokered ceasefire.

There are still more than 100 Azerbaijani servicemen missing, according to authorities, adding that 1,245 servicemen are being treated in medical facilities.

Earlier on November 14, Armenian health ministry spokeswoman Alina Nikoghosyan confirmed via her social media platform that the country's forensic service has examined the bodies of 2,317 dead Armenian servicemen.

Moreover, over 600 bodies of servicemen were found during the search operations in the Nagorno-Karabakh region, according to the report of Armenia's media outlet Armenpress on Wednesday.

Although this agency-sourced story is a little unclear, the "moreover, over 600 bodies of servicemen" part appears to refer to dead mercenaries.

This is backed up by a roughly similar death toll (541) reported by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which also gives details on how much the mercenaries were paid:

The Syrian Observatory has obtained new details on the case of Turkish-backed Syrian mercenaries in Azerbaijan from several fighters who recently returned from Nagorno-Karabakh to Syria. According to SOHR sources, the fighters who had returned to Syria received varying payments, as some were given 3,500 USD and 600 TL[Turkish Lire], another group was given 1,000 USD and 1,000 TL each, while some others were given two payments of an estimated 5,000 TL. Furthermore, all the fighters confirmed that there were “unpaid sums of money” that were supposed to be given to these fighters in the next few days.

On the other hand, SOHR sources say that the number of Syrian mercenaries killed in Azerbaijan exceeded the number of those killed in Libya, as the death toll of the Turkish-backed Syrian mercenaries in Azerbaijan has reached 541. In Libya, however, the death toll is 468 fighters.

Observatory sources have also confirmed that further bodies of Syrian fighters killed in Nagorno-Karabakh battles have arrived in Syria with the recent batches of returnees, bringing the number of fighters whose bodies were brought to Syria to 340.

Yes, that's how wars are fought in the 21st century, low-paid men recruited from already brutalised parts of the World thrown in to die in someone else's war.