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The remains of a rocket ship can be seen in the field of the troubled region. PHOTO: Reuters
Two special envoys from the French newspaper Le Monde were injured in the shelling of the town of Martuni in Nagorno-Karabakh, the newspaper reported. The wounded journalist and photographer were hospitalized in two hospitals. Colleagues do not publish their names. One of the French was seriously injured and taken to Stepanakert for surgery, reveals the BBC. Paris is ready to send a plane to evacuate them. Journalists were talking to civilians in the city when they were bombed. At least one local police officer died.
Aram Grigoryan, the operator of the Armenian TV channel, was injured, albeit slightly, and a correspondent for the Russian TV channel Dozhd was attacked but not injured.
Fighting in the disputed area, which is in Azerbaijan but is populated mainly by Armenians, has been going on since Sunday. Karabakh defense forces say they shot down three Azerbaijani planes and, hours earlier, reported three helicopters, one of which crashed into Iran. However, Baku denies: “All our air combat units are fully operational.”
Azerbaijan’s General Prosecutor’s Office announced on Thursday the death of 16 civilians and 55 injured since the beginning of the escalation of tensions. 163 residential buildings were damaged. Both sides are waging a propaganda war on the Internet with videos of them destroying enemy targets.
The international community is deeply concerned by reports from Russia that Turkey is transferring mercenaries from Syria and Libya to Nagorno-Karabakh. The presidents of France, Russia and the United States, Emmanuel Macron, Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump (they are co-chairs of the 1992 Minsk Group) issued a joint statement on the immediate reduction of tensions. Russia offers to host talks between the Armenian and Azerbaijani foreign ministers. Ankara, on the other hand, accused Paris of supporting the occupation of a fifth of Azerbaijan’s territory due to its large Armenian community.
Russian media reported that the only son of the Armenian Prime Minister, Nikol Pashinyan, went to fight in Nagorno-Karabakh. Ashot Pashinyan also served in Karabakh, but resigned in July 2020.
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