updated13. September 2022, 07:40
prolonged conflict“The enemy is trying to advance” – Armenia reports shelling from Azerbaijan
Heavy fighting apparently broke out once more between Azerbaijan and Armenia in the Caucasus on Tuesday night. The conflict has a long history.
Armenians live in the Nagorno-Karabakh region, but it belongs to Azerbaijan. However, the fighting is not currently affecting the region.
IMAGO/Le Pictorium
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev at an event. (archive image)
IMAGO/Italy Photo Press
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The Armenian Defense Ministry announced on Tuesday night that the country was being attacked by Azerbaijani troops.
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Armenia and Azerbaijan both claim Nagorno-Karabakh territory, but the attack did not target the exclave.
According to Armenian sources, Azerbaijani troops attempted an advance into Armenia on Tuesday. “The enemy is trying to advance,” said the Defense Ministry in Yerevan. The Azerbaijani army used artillery and drones once morest military and civilian targets near the border. Both sides had already reported fighting near the border during the night.
In the shadow of the Ukraine war, heavy fighting broke out once more between Azerbaijan and Armenia in the Caucasus. According to his government, the Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan telephoned the President of the protecting power Russia, Vladimir Putin, on Tuesday night. Pashinyan spoke of an Azerbaijani attack to which there must be an international reaction. He and Putin therefore agreed to stay in touch. Pashinyan also alerted French President Emmanuel Macron, media in Yerevan reported.
The Defense Ministry said Azerbaijani troops had attacked Armenian positions in three places with artillery and large-caliber weapons. There are dead and wounded. In Baku, on the other hand, the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry said that a large-scale attempt at sabotage by Armenians had triggered the fighting. “The entire responsibility for the situation lies with the military-political leadership of Armenia,” it said.
Conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh region for decades
The former Soviet republics have been at war with each other over the Nagorno-Karabakh region for decades. However, according to Armenian information, the exclave was not attacked this time, the attacks hit positions near the cities of Goris, Sotk and Dschermuk. These are on the territory of Armenia.
The disputed Nagorno-Karabakh belongs to Azerbaijan but is inhabited by Armenians. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Armenian forces secured control of the area in a war from 1992 to 1994 and occupied large parts of Azerbaijan. In 2020, Azerbaijan regained its territories and seized strategically important points in Nagorno-Karabakh. Russia, the protecting power of the Christian Armenians, is monitoring the ceasefire agreed four months later. Since then, the European Union has also made many efforts to resolve the conflict.
(DPA/sys)
