Nagorno-Karabakh conflict: major cities affected by heavy fighting

The second largest city in Azerbaijan, Ganja, has been bombarded by Armenian forces, as heavy fighting continues in the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh enclave.

The enclave is officially part of Azerbaijan but is run by ethnic Armenians.

The self-proclaimed authorities said they attacked the Ganja military airport after Azerbaijani forces bombed the region’s capital, Stepanakert.

Azerbaijan says no military sites in Ganja were attacked. More than 220 people have died since the fighting began a week ago.

Armenia and Azerbaijan entered the war over Nagorno-Karabakh in 1988-94, eventually declaring a ceasefire. However, they never reached an agreement on the dispute.

The current fighting is the worst seen since the ceasefire and the two former Soviet republics blame each other.

There is a fear that the actual death toll among the military of all sides, as well as among civilians, is much higher, as claims of victims have not been independently verified.

Azerbaijan’s army says its forces have retaken control of seven villages since last Sunday, while Nagorno-Karabakh says its troops have “improved” their positions at the front.

Earlier this week, Armenia said it was “ready to engage” with mediators from France, Russia and the United States to try to agree to a ceasefire.

Azerbaijan, which is openly backed by Turkey, has demanded the withdrawal of Armenian troops from Nagorno-Karabakh and the adjacent areas taken by ethnic Armenian troops.

Turkey condemned the Ganja bombing, accusing Armenia of “targeting civilians”.

In a short statement on Sunday, the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry said that Armenian forces were bombing Ganja, a city in western Azerbaijan located north of Nagorno-Karabakh.

Defense Minister Zakary Hasanov said it was a “clearly provocative” move that was expanding the conflict.

A civilian was killed, local media reported.

In a later statement, the Defense Ministry said: “The information released by the Armenian side about the alleged bombing of military installations in the city of Ganja is provocative and false.

“As a result of enemy fire, the civilian population, civil infrastructure and old historical buildings were damaged.”

Meanwhile, the Nagorno-Karabakh authorities said they had destroyed the Ganja military airport.

They said they had acted after Stepanakert was hit by missiles and claimed that the Ganja facilities had been used by Azerbaijani forces to launch attacks on civilian areas.

Numerous casualties were reported in Stepanakert, which was without power, according to the Armenpress news agency. Buses of people were seen leaving the city on Saturday.

Armenpress quoted the leader of the breakaway region, Arayik Harutyunyan, as warning that “as of now, permanently deployed military installations in major cities of Azerbaijan are legitimate targets of the defense army.

Mr. Harutyunyan added that he had now ordered the shelling to stop, “to prevent the death of innocent and peaceful civilians.”

On the other hand, the spokeswoman for the Ministry of Defense of Armenia, Shushan Stepanyan, said that “no fire of any kind is being opened from the territory of Armenia in the direction of Azerbaijan.”

Armenia provides military and economic support to Nagorno-Karabakh without officially recognizing the self-proclaimed region.

By Konul Khalilova, editor of BBC News Azerbaijan

For the more than 330,000 residents of Ganja, this morning brought horror: the city was being bombarded by forces fighting for Armenia.

“We heard a huge explosion. It was shocking and terrible. The children were scared,” one resident told us. “We left our apartment and went to a shelter.”

A nurse at one of the major hospitals said several injured civilians had been admitted.

“My husband saw the body of a woman in a pool of blood. There are victims throughout the city,” she said.

Nagorno-Karabakh separatists have urged residents of major Azerbaijani cities to leave, warning that military sites there are now legitimate targets.

But Elnur Bayramov, a resident of Ganja, said he and his family weren’t scared.

“We are not going to leave our home, our city, we are not going to become internally displaced,” he said.

The Nagorno-Karabakh authorities have confirmed that 201 of its service staff members and several civilians have died since fighting broke out on 27 September.

Azerbaijan says 22 civilians have been killed, without providing information on their military casualties.