Armenia and Azerbaijan have been fighting over the territory of NagornoKarabakh since the 1990s
The Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan announced the start of an “antiterrorist operation”. NagornoKarabakh this Tuesday 19th, after the explosion of two mines and an attack with small arms and mortars. At that time, six Azerbaijanis, two civilians and four police officers died. The Azerbaijani government attributes the attack to “a sabotage group of illegal military formations.” Armenia“, a neighboring country with which Baku has strained relations. Baku opened a criminal case for terrorism, premeditated murder based on ethnic hatred and illegal possession of weapons and explosives. According to the ministry, the action aims to “ensure compliance with the provisions of the tripartite declaration” between Azerbaijan, Armenia and Russia, which ended the 2020 war in which Baku recaptured part of the lost territories. Azerbaijan further stated that the operation aims to expel “Armenia’s armed formations” from the country, “neutralize its military infrastructure, ensure the safety of civilians” and restore constitutional order.
The NagornoKarabakh region, which itself declared independence in 1991, is the subject of talks between Armenia and Azerbaijan, which have already faced each other in two wars. In the first, in the early 1990s, the Armenians emerged victorious, while in the second, in 2020, the Azerbaijanis triumphed. Under international law, the area belongs to Azerbaijan but is home to ethnic Armenians. In the most recent conflict, Baku recaptured more than twothirds of the region’s territory. Tensions between the two countries have increased in the last two days due to reports of troop movements on both sides. The nations threatened to cancel the brokered ceasefire Russia in 2020.
*With information from EFE