Fierce clashes on Saturday left at least 30 Azerbaijani and Armenian soldiers dead, prompting Russia and the West to call for an immediate ceasefire after an escalation over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region.
Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan said 18 Armenian troops were killed and about 35 others wounded in the “largest-scale hostilities” since a 1994 truce ended a war in which Armenian-backed fighters seized the territory from Azerbaijan. Sargsyan did not specify if the troops were from the forces of unrecognized Karabakh — which claims independence, but is backed by Yerevan — or Armenia’s army. Earlier, the Azerbaijani Ministry of Defense said that 12 of its soldiers were killed in the clashes and a military helicopter shot down.
The surge in fighting over the disputed territory reportedly also claimed the lives of one Armenian and one Azerbaijani civilian after the archfoes accused each other of unleashing heavy weaponry over the volatile frontline.
Photo: Reuters
Armenia accused Azerbaijan of launching a “massive attack along the Karabakh frontline, using tanks, artillery and helicopters” on Friday night.
However, Azerbaijan said it had counterattacked after coming under fire from “large-caliber artillery and grenade-launchers.”
Azerbaijani Ministry of Defense spokesman Vagif Dargahli said that firing had stopped by Saturday evening, but added that the situation remained highly volatile. Russian President Vladimir Putin called for an immediate end to fighting along the frontline.
“President Putin calls on the parties in the conflict to observe an immediate ceasefire and exercise restraint in order to prevent further casualties,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russian news agencies.
Moscow has supplied weaponry to both sides in the conflict, but has much closer military and economic ties to Armenia and Yerevan is reliant on Russia’s backing. Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergei Lavrov and Russian Minister of Defence Sergei Shoigu held phone talks with their counterparts in Armenia and Azerbaijan to urge a de-escalation in the fighting.
Mediators from a group made up of representatives from Russia, the US, France and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), which has been trying to negotiate a settlement, also expressed “grave concern.” EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini said the reports of heavy fighting were “deeply worrying” and called on all sides to “avoid any further actions or statements that could result in escalation.”
US Secretary of State John Kerry called on both sides to return to peace talks under the auspices of the OSCE, saying “there is no military solution to the conflict.”
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev spoke by phone to ally Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who expressed “solidarity” with Azerbaijan, Aliyev’s press office said. Energy-rich Azerbaijan, whose military spending has in the past exceeded Armenia’s entire state budget, has repeatedly threatened to take back the breakaway region by force if negotiations fail to yield results. Moscow-backed Armenia said it could crush any offensive.
The last big flare-up occurred in November 2014 when Azerbaijan shot down an Armenian military helicopter. US Vice President Joe Biden met this week separately with both Aliyev and Sarkisian, as they attended a nuclear summit in Washington. He urged a peaceful settlement to the dispute.
Biden “expressed concern about continued violence, called for dialogue and emphasized the importance of a comprehensive settlement for the long-term stability, security and prosperity of the region,” the White House said.
Ethnic Armenian separatists backed by Yerevan seized control of the Nagorno-Karabakh region in the early 1990s war that claimed about 30,000 lives and the foes have never signed a peace deal, despite the 1994 ceasefire.
The region is still internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan and the two sides frequently exchange fire, but the latest episode marked a surge in violence and sparked frantic appeals for peace from international powers. Azerbaijani forces claimed that they had taken control of several strategic heights and a village in the Armenian-controlled territory, but Yerevan denied the claim as “disinformation.”
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