The previous Armenian government had also declared that if Azerbaijan attacks Artsakh, Armenia would then recognize Artsakh’s independence. Armenia's defence ministry said Azeri forces had launched an attack five minutes after the truce had been due to come into effect, with ethnic Armenian forces responding. Share in Twitter. Azerbaijan is widely considered to have the superior firepower, using a fleet of drones to target Armenian forces with deadly accuracy and also launching rocket attacks against two … UN Secretary-General António Guterres stated that "indiscriminate attacks on populated areas anywhere, including in Stepanakert, Ganja and other localities in and around the immediate Nagorno-Karabakh zone of conflict, were totally unacceptable". After the first shelling, he went out to see what happened. Ganja was first hit by a missile on 4 October. How can I live without my brother?”. This massive amount of funding has enabled Azerbaijan to free up other resources to attack Nagorno Karabakh and Armenia, as we have seen … Fighting between Armenia and Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh dramatically escalated early September 27, 2020. Armenia's new attack against Azerbaijan is an act of aggression and use of force. He was young. Barda MP Zahid Oruj told Al Jazeera that Armenia was attempting to “create scenes similar to Syria and Libya, with people’s blood shed in the streets”. Pro-Azerbaijan protesters in Istanbul, Turkey, on 4 October. Send in e-mail Send in e-mail. Reuters. Armenia and Azerbaijan have accused each other of attacks over the separatist territory of Nagorno-Karabakh despite a ceasefire deal brokered by Russia. The region has long attracted western concern because it is a major oil and gas pipeline corridor to world markets. “The second rocket landed when he went outside. Azerbaijan accused Armenia of the attack, which it denied. FILE PHOTO: An ethnic Armenian soldier fires an artillery piece during a military conflict over the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh, in this handout picture released October 5, 2020. Ganja is the second biggest city of Azerbaijan. Stop it, Armenia.”. Armenia has declared martial law and mobilised all men of fighting age after it accused Azerbaijan of unprovoked strikes on Sunday morning. “There is nothing special about this,” Pashinyan said. Several killed and dozens wounded in attack on eastern Azerbaijan, as clash over Nagorno-Karabakh intensifies. Fighting between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh has escalated dramatically after Baku accused Armenian forces of firing rockets at Ganja, which lies outside the contested territory. l believe that civilians should not be targeted in war. Armenian Defense Ministry spokeswoman Shushan Stepanian said Azerbaijani forces were “intensively shelling the southern front" of the conflict zone on … The International Committee of the Red Cross on Sunday condemned the reports of “indiscriminate shelling and other alleged unlawful attacks using explosive weaponry in cities, towns and other populated areas”. Because of their power, more than 100 countries have banned cluster munitions, though Armenia and Azerbaijan have not. A series of clashes on the Armenia-Azerbaijan border has resulted in the deaths of three Azerbaijani soldiers in the heaviest fighting between the two sides in years. Azerbaijan’s Prosecutor General’s Office said Friday that at least 47 civilians were killed and 222 injured because of new Armenian attacks. Azerbaijan’s defence ministry says its army units were attacked by “an illegal Armenian armed group” in Nagorno-Karabakh, killing one Azerbaijani serviceman and wounding another. Oct. 4, 2020. The increased violence brings the two former Soviet republics a step closer to outright war after eight days of clashes, and threatens to draw the regional powers Turkey, Russia and Iran into a battle for influence in the sensitive south Caucasus. Share in WhatsApp. The cease-fire came into effect Saturday, but was immediately challenged by mutual claims of violations that persisted since then. Amnesty documented eight strikes carried out by Armenian forces on towns and villages in Azerbaijan that killed a total of 72 civilians. The Nagorno-Karabakh’s defence ministry has recorded 1,119 military deaths since fighting erupted on September 27. Amnesty Internationalstated that both Azerbaijani and Armenian forces committed war crimes during recent fighting in Nagorno-Karabakh, and called on Azerbaijani and Armenian authorities to immediately conduct independent, impartial investigations, identify all those res… "Indiscriminate Missile attacks are launched against Ganja, Füzuli, Tartar and Jabrayil cities of Azerbaijan from territory of Armenia. Armenia immediately denied carrying out the attack, the second in two days that Azerbaijan says killed civilians in the Barda district close to the frontline. “They [the Caucasian jihadist fighters] were taken … A series of clashes on the Armenia-Azerbaijan border has resulted in the deaths of three Azerbaijani soldiers in the heaviest fighting between the two sides in years. Latest uptick comes as Turkey’s involvement in the region stretches from Syria to the Caucasus and the Mediterranean. Karabakh's rights ombudsman Artak Beglaryan said there were "heavy casualties" in the attacks. Lala Ismayilova, an English-language teacher in Barda, lost her 31-year-old brother Fuad Ismayilov, on Wednesday. Armenia regards the territory as part of its historic homeland and says the population there needs its protection. “My father passed away years ago, and Fuad was the man of our family. A Russian Mi-24 helicopter was downed over Armenia near the border with Azerbaijan from a man-portable air-defense system, killing two and injuring one, the Russian Defense Ministry reported. Share in Facebook. Attacks by Armenian forces . A truce between Azerbaijan and Armenia is threatening to fall apart after renewed clashes overnight. The bodies of at least 50 Syrian combatants were repatriated to the last rebel-held corner of the country on Saturday, with some funerals held for the dead men the same day, several Syrian families said. Sevinj Mikayilova was making her nine-year-old child breakfast when: ‘Suddenly we heard the bomb.’ [Seymur Kazimov/Al Jazeera]Wednesday’s attack came despite a US-brokered truce agreed at the weekend, the third ceasefire attempt in a row to collapse just minutes after it took effect. On 17 October, in the city of Ganja 21 civilians were killed and more than 50 injured when a SCUD-B ballistic missile hit the Mukhtar Hajiyev neighbourhood. In a fiery televised address to the nation, Azerbaijani president Ilham Aliyev set conditions for a halt to the fighting that would be near impossible for Armenia to accept. Nagorno-Karabakh is now the third theatre in which Moscow and Ankara are engaged in a volatile power struggle, after Syria and Libya. Rivals use official social media accounts to ramp up rhetoric and deny claims of attacks, but can either be believed? KIM Kardashian has called for international efforts to keep the peace as a border conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan killed more than 50 people in two days. Share in Twitter. Send in e-mail Send in e-mail. Armenia and the de-facto authorities in … Tensions between the two neighbours over the last 30 years have traditionally been mediated by Russia, which has a military alliance with Armenia but also maintains close links with Baku’s ruling elite and sells arms to both sides. Azerbaijan’s drone-led assault seems to have scored a decisive victory over Armenian forces in the disputed enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh, with a … He said “Nagorno-Karabakh is our land” and that Armenian forces “must leave our territories, not in words but in deeds”, provide a timetable for a full withdrawal, and recognise the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan. Armenia also warned about security risks in the South Caucasus in July after Azerbaijan threatened to attack Armenia’s nuclear power plant as possible retaliation. A report from Syrians for Justice and Truth (SJT) did claim that about 150 fighters from Syrian jihadi groups made up of people from the Caucasus were sent to Azerbaijan in July, the same month that serious clashes broke out between Armenia and Azerbaijan. The fighting has also been characterised by accusations from both sides of foreign involvement in the escalating violence. Azerbaijan underlined that the ceasefire was temporary and emphasized that it would not renege on its goal to retake control of the region. Azerbaijan and Armenia have been locked in a bitter conflict over Karabakh since Armenian separatists backed by Yerevan seized control of the mountainous province in a 1990s war that left 30,000 people dead. There were reports of dead and wounded civilians in both the capital and the historic town of Susha, with Armenia’s foreign ministry accusing Azerbaijani forces of “the deliberate targeting of the civilian population”. By Alexandra Hudson . The attack on Wednesday hit a densely populated area and a shopping district. Armenian or allied Nagorno-Karabakh forces repeatedly fired widely banned cluster munitions in attacks on populated areas in Azerbaijan during … Remnants of the weapons used in the attack [Seymur Kazimov/Al Jazeera]According to a list seen by Al Jazeera, victims ranged in age from 30 to 80. The result left Nagorno-Karabakh, closely aligned with Armenia, vulnerable to attack by Azerbaijan, which vowed to recapture the area. Armenia and Azerbaijan on Monday accused each other of attacks over the separatist territory of Nagorno-Karabakh despite a cease-fire deal brokered by Russia to try to end the worst outbreak of hostilities in the region in decades. The Armenian foreign ministry said three civilians were injured in a fire resulting from Azerbaijan’s attacks. Baku says Yerevan is being aided by fighters from the Kurdistan Workers’ party (PKK) militant group based in Syria and Iraq, but has also not produced any proof. "Indiscriminate Missile attacks are launched against Ganja, Füzuli, Tartar and Jabrayil cities of Azerbaijan from territory of Armenia. BEIRUT, LEBANON (11:00 A.M.) – Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said on Sunday that Russia will intervene to ensure the security of Armenia in the event that Azerbaijan attempts to launch any attack on the Syunik border region. Print article. A ceasefire in 1994 left Armenia in full control of the area and surrounding enclaves, which are internationally recognised as Azerbajiani territory. On July 12th and 13th, Azerbaijani forces attacked Armenia’s northern province of Tavush on multiple occasions, with 4 Azerbaijani soldiers killed and 7 Azerbaijani and Armenian soldiers wounded. Additional reporting by Seymur Kazimov from Barda district. Escalation draws former Soviet republics closer to outright war. Tahir Taghizadeh, the Azerbaijani ambassdor to the UK, told the Guardian that Turkey’s support for Azerbaijan was “solely limited to military training and putting diplomatic pressure on Armenia”. Wednesday’s strike marked the deadliest reported attack on civilians in a month of fighting over Nagorno-Karabakh. Armenia has denied carrying out the attacks on Tuesday, when four people were killed, and Wednesday, when 21 died. Attacks by Armenian forces Amnesty International documented eight strikes carried out by Armenian forces on towns and villages in Azerbaijan which killed a total of 72 civilians. The cease-fire came into effect Saturday, but was immediately challenged by mutual claims of violations that persisted since then. At least one civilian was killed and four more injured in the attack on Sunday on Azerbaijan’s second largest city, 100km (60 miles) north of the Karabakh capital, Stepanakert. Turkey, which has strong cultural and economic ties to Azerbaijan, is widely viewed to have stoked the fresh hostilities by declaring its staunch support for Azerbaijan when the fighting broke out last week.