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Azerbaijan and the Armenian separatists of Nagorno Karabakh They said Tuesday they had inflicted heavy losses on each other, on the third day of the deadly fighting in this enclave, despite international efforts to stop it.
Several foreign leaders, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel, have called for an immediate ceasefire, and the UN Security Council meets urgently Tuesday night to try to avoid an open war between Armenia and Azerbaijan, which could destabilize the region and involve Russia and Turkey, regional powers.
Both sides claim to have inflicted heavy losses on the enemy, underscoring the scale of the fighting, which officially claimed nearly 100 lives.
Armenia’s defense minister said Tuesday that separatists had destroyed 49 drones, four helicopters, 80 tanks, a military plane and 82 Azerbaijani military vehicles since Sunday, claiming they had inflicted “heavy casualties.”
Nagorno Karabakh authorities say they have regained positions lost the day before, which Azerbaijan denies, stating that they made further progress and destroyed “an Armenian motorized column and an artillery unit.”
For its part, the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry assured that the “fierce fighting” continued until Tuesday morning and that its forces had “destroyed four enemy tanks, an armored vehicle and killed ten soldiers.”
Since Sunday, the forces of the separatist enclave of Nagorno Karabakh – supported politically, militarily and economically by Armenia – and those of Azerbaijan have fought in the deadliest fighting since 2016.
The official death toll in the fighting as of Tuesday was 98, including 14 civilians (10 from Azerbaijan and four from the Armenian side). But both sides claim to have killed hundreds of enemy soldiers.
Failure of peace efforts
Azerbaijan, a Turkish-speaking country with a Shiite majority, is demanding the return under its control of Nagorno Karabakh, a mountainous province populated mainly by Christian Armenians, whose secession in 1991 was not recognized by the international community.
After weeks of war rhetoric, Azerbaijan announced on Sunday that it had launched a major “counteroffensive” in response to an Armenian “aggression”, using artillery, tanks and aircraft in attacks against the province, which it has not controlled since the fall of the Soviet Union. and a war that claimed 30,000 lives.
Russia, France and the United States – the three mediators in the conflict within the so-called Minsk Group – unsuccessfully called for a ceasefire and negotiations.
“Both sides must stop the violence and work with the Minsk Group … to resume substantive negotiations as soon as possible,” US chief of diplomacy Mike Pompeo said Tuesday on the second day of a visit to Greece.
For her part, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said that “an immediate ceasefire and return to the negotiating table is urgent” in two separate telephone conversations with the leaders of Azerbaijan and Armenia.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday called on Armenia to end the “occupation of Nagorno Karabakh” and promised that Ankara would remain “alongside” Baku “by all means.”
Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh accuse Ankara of supplying weapons, “military specialists”, drone pilots and aircraft to Baku, which Azerbaijan denies.
Russia maintains good relations with the two belligerents and wants to be the regional referee. However, it remains closer to Armenia, which belongs to a Moscow-dominated military alliance.
All mediation efforts for almost 30 years have failed to resolve this conflict and Nagorno Karabakh is regularly rocked by outbreaks of violence.
Both states declared martial law on Sunday and Armenia declared general mobilization. Azerbaijan has imposed a curfew on parts of the country, including its capital.
An emergency closed-door meeting of the UN Security Council on the conflict will be held on Tuesday at 21:00 GMT.
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