Azerbaijan carries out attacks in the ethnic Armenian enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh. Armenian media report that the Azerbaijani army is bombing the area. This is also evident from images and witness statements from the region.
According to authorities in the enclave, Azerbaijani forces are trying to enter the area. According to Armenian authorities in the region, five people have been killed and eighty people have been injured. Fifteen of them are said to be civilians. Earlier, the human rights ombudsman in the region announced that two civilian casualties had been caused by the air strikes. According to Azerbaijani authorities, an Azerbaijani citizen was also killed at the hands of Armenian forces.
The attack was launched after four Azerbaijani soldiers and two civilians were killed in the region by landmines, Azerbaijan’s Defense Ministry said. According to the Azerbaijani authorities, the victims can be blamed on Armenia. Azerbaijan’s goal is to expel Armenian troops from the area.
Images from the area show explosions and damaged houses and cars:
The European Union condemns the attack and calls on Azerbaijan to stop military activities, EU foreign chief Borrell said. France calls the attack “unacceptable”. The United States is expected to intervene diplomatically in the conflict.
Russia says it is alarmed by the escalation in the area. Russia is present in the enclave as a peacekeeping force and should protect Armenia and the enclave. But Russia’s influence is limited, partly because the country has its hands full with the war in Ukraine.
Nagorno-Karabakh is internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, but Armenians inhabit and administer the area.
The region, where around 120,000 Armenians live, has been cut off from the outside world for nine months, resulting in a humanitarian crisis. The only access road to the region has been blocked by Azerbaijan since December last year. Aid supplies are arriving in dribs and drabs, causing a major shortage of food and medicine.
The conflict between neighboring countries in the Caucasus has been raging for decades. In the 1990s, the ethnic Armenian region of Nagorno-Karabakh managed to secede from Azerbaijan in a bloody civil war.
Correspondent Iris de Graaf explains in the video below how the situation arose:
- Two trucks carrying aid are allowed into Nagorno-Karabakh
- Will there be war again? Armenians feel abandoned to their fate
- ‘Risk of ethnic cleansing’ of Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh
