Dozens of Armenian soldiers have reportedly been killed in renewed border clashes between Armenia and Azerbaijan, in the worst fighting seen since the hostile foes engaged in a 2020 war over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region. After several hours of fierce border clashes on Tuesday night, Armenia appealed to world leaders for help, saying Azerbaijani forces were trying to advance on its territory. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan demanded from world leaders an “adequate response” to “Azerbaijan’s aggressive actions.” Russia, Armenia’s closest ally, said it had persuaded the historic rivals to agree to a swift ceasefire.
What happened?
Armenia said Azerbaijani forces launched heavy shelling, with artillery and heavy artillery, against Armenian army positions in the direction of the cities of Goris, Sotk and Jermuk shortly after midnight. Azerbaijan’s defense ministry accused Armenia of “large-scale subversive actions” near the border districts of Dashkesan, Kelbajar and Lachin, adding that its army positions “came under fire, including from trench mortars.” Elnur Mammadov, Azerbaijan’s deputy foreign minister, said: “Armenia has been shelling Azerbaijani military positions for several weeks. The shelling has intensified in recent days. Armenia has begun to build up heavy armaments and armaments along the alleged border between Armenia and Azerbaijan. What happened overnight is a large-scale provocation by the Armenian army against Azerbaijani positions, as well as the shelling of workers and civilian infrastructure.” According to Pashinian, 49 Armenian soldiers have been killed, with the number expected to rise. Azerbaijan did not say whether it had suffered military casualties.
How did world leaders react?
Turkey, a close ally of Azerbaijan, told Yerevan to “stop its provocations” against Baku, with Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu saying on Twitter that the country should instead “focus on peace negotiations and cooperation” with her neighbor. US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said Washington was deeply concerned by reports of the attacks and urged “an immediate end to military hostilities”, adding that “there can be no military solution to the conflict”. Russia said it was “extremely concerned” by the upsurge in fighting. Charles Michel, president of the European Council, said the bloc was “ready to make efforts to prevent further escalation”, adding that “there is no alternative to peace and stability in the region”.
Has a ceasefire been reached?
The Russian Foreign Ministry said it had succeeded in brokering a truce that began at 9 a.m. Moscow time (06:00 GMT). “We expect that the agreement reached as a result of the Russian-brokered ceasefire … will be fully implemented,” the ministry said in a statement.
What is the background of the conflict?
At the heart of the conflict between the former Soviet republics is the highly contested region of Nagorno-Karabakh, where two wars were fought in the 1990s and more recently in 2020. The enclave is internationally recognized as Azerbaijani territory, but is inhabited by Armenians who either want to secede or join Armenia. Azerbaijan considers Armenians to illegally occupy their land. At least 30,000 people have been killed in the conflict since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, after Armenian separatists seceded from Azerbaijan. The six-week war in 2020 over Nagorno-Karabakh killed at least 6,500 people and ended with a Russian-brokered ceasefire. Under the deal, Armenia ceded swathes of territory it had controlled for decades and Moscow deployed some 2,000 Russian peacekeepers to oversee the fragile ceasefire.
