Despite international appeals, the Azerbaijani army continues its attack on the Armenian-inhabited region of Nagorno-Karabakh. At least 7,000 civilians fled.
The world is in the grip of a new war in the Caucasus. Numerous international leaders, from Moscow to Washington, have called on Azerbaijan to cease hostilities. But the Azerbaijani army is not shy about continuing its military operation, which began on Tuesday. Military measures continued successfully, Azerbaijan’s Defense Ministry said on Wednesday. Combat positions, military vehicles, artillery and anti-aircraft missile installations and other military equipment were “neutralized”. The information could not be independently verified.
Russian news agencies, citing Azerbaijan’s presidential office, reported that President Ilham Aliyev told US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in a phone call that his country would only halt the operation when Armenian fighters laid down their arms and surrendered.
Azerbaijan’s large-scale military operation is directed against the Armenian-inhabited enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh. According to Armenian information, more than 7,000 civilians were evacuated. On the first day of the military operation, more than two dozen people died. The human rights commissioner of the internationally unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, Gegam Stepanyan, spoke of at least 27 deaths. There are at least seven civilians among them – including two children.
The conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh has been simmering for decades. The Caucasus region, predominantly inhabited by Armenians, belongs to Azerbaijan under international law but separated from it in 1991. There is an autonomous government with close ties to Armenia. The conflict has repeatedly resulted in short wars between the two former Soviet republics. (APA/Red)