From Le Figaro with AFP
Published 5 hours ago, now updated
An Armenian guard post (left) near an Azerbaijani guard post (right), September 27, 2023, near the village of Khnatsakh on the Armenian side of the border with Azerbaijan. ALAIN JOCARD / AFP
UPDATE ON THE SITUATION – Tensions between the two neighboring countries are at their highest after Baku just won a lightning victory in Nagorno-Karabakh.
According to Armenian and Russian authorities, exchanges of fire broke out between Armenia and Azerbaijan late on Monday. Le Figaro takes stock.
Joint Russian, Azerbaijani patrol comes under fire, Moscow says
A joint Russian and Azerbaijani patrol came under fire in Nagorno-Karabakh on Monday, October 2, the Russian Defense Ministry said. “A mixed Russian and Azerbaijani patrol was fired upon with a sniper weapon by an unknown person,” the ministry said in a statement. “There were no casualties. The command of the Russian peacekeeping force is conducting investigations together with representatives of the Azerbaijani side and Karabakh,” he continued.
According to Armenia, one person was killed and two injured in the exchange of fire at the border
Armenia announced that one soldier was killed and two injured on Monday when his vehicle was attacked by Azerbaijani forces in the border area, showing the volatility of the situation in the region even after the surrender of the self-proclaimed Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh.
“On October 2, there was one dead and two injured on the Armenian side after the Azerbaijani Armed Forces fired on an Armenian Armed Forces vehicle that was transporting equipment for the soldiers (…),” the Armenian ministry told Defense against Telegram -News after an unspecified number of victims were previously reported. Tensions between the two neighboring countries are at their highest as Baku has just won a lightning victory in Nagorno-Karabakh, a region populated primarily by Armenians that has been at the center of two wars between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
The Council of Europe calls on Baku to respect the right of return
The Council of Europe called on Azerbaijan on Monday to respect the right of those who fled Nagorno-Karabakh, the separatist enclave recently recaptured from Baku, to “return home in safety and dignity.” “I call on the Azerbaijani government to ensure the security and respect for the human rights of the ethnic Armenians remaining in the Karabakh region, including their right to equal treatment and to protection from violence, intimidation and hatred,” said the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights Rights Dunja Mijatovic said in a statement.
“Vulnerable groups such as the injured or those in need of care, older people, women and children must be given special protection. “The authorities should also ensure that the rights of those who have left the country are fully respected, including the right to return home in safety and dignity,” added the commissioner, who will visit Armenia “soon.”
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