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Fighting between Armenian and Azerbaijani forces in Nagorno-Karabakh resumed after the two sides exchanged accusations of attacks on civilian territories, the Associated Press reported.
Ethnic Armenian representatives in the Azerbaijani separatist Nagorno-Karabakh region said today that 21 more military personnel were killed in battles with Azerbaijan, Reuters reports. Thus, the total number of military casualties of the separatists has reached 223 since the beginning of the fighting eight days ago. Azerbaijan does not reveal the number of military casualties. Civilian casualties are 25.
Armenian forces have fired rockets at the second largest city in Azerbaijan, Ganja, Reuters reports. Armenia denies having opened fire. An Armenian Defense Ministry official said “it is not true and there is complete misinformation that Armenia has bombed Azerbaijani fortresses.” Nagorno-Karabakh leader Araik Harutyunyan said that the Ganja air base had been destroyed.
The Armenian Foreign Ministry said that by disseminating information about the Armenian bombing of settlements, Azerbaijan was preparing to “expand the geography of war.” According to them, Azerbaijan is trying to hide the massive bombardment of large settlements in the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh enclave.
The Armenian army reports missile attacks in Stepanakert, the capital of the disputed territory.
According to AFP, in recent days the bombing of urban areas has increased. The victims include both military and civilians.
Nagorno-Karabakh officials say nearly 200 military personnel on their side have been killed in the clashes so far. Eighteen civilians were killed and more than 90 were injured. Azerbaijani authorities did not provide details of their military casualties, but said 24 civilians had been killed and 124 wounded, the Associated Press reported.
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev previously said that hostilities would not end until Armenian forces withdrew from Nagorno-Karabakh. He also asked Armenia to draw up a timetable for withdrawal from the disputed territory. Aliyev also said that the indifference of the international community is one of the reasons for the situation in the region.
During a visit to Turkey today, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg called for a ceasefire in Nagorno-Karabakh, Reuters reported. This comes in the context of an increase in the death toll. Stoltenberg said: “It is extremely important that we send a very clear message to all parties that they must stop the fighting immediately, that we must support all efforts to find a peaceful solution through negotiations.” He also called on Turkey, Azerbaijan’s main ally, “to use its influence to defuse tensions” in the disputed territory.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said NATO should “ask Armenia to withdraw.” According to the official Turkish position, the “occupation” of Nagorno-Karabakh by Armenian-backed separatists must end. Cavusoglu also said that Armenia was “committing war crimes” by attacking areas populated by civilians.
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has called for Turkey’s participation in the Nagorno-Karabakh peace process, Reuters reported.
Meanwhile, many foreign journalists are leaving the informal capital of Nagorno-Karabakh, Stepanakert, after the rocket attacks, RIA Novosti reported, cited by BGNES. The Armenian authorities are about to organize a press center in Goris.
The disputed Nagorno-Karabakh territory is in Azerbaijan, but has been controlled by ethnic Armenian forces backed by Armenia since the end of the separatist war in 1994. Clashes broke out in the region on September 27.
