More than 150 troop were killed on both sides during fighting on the border between Armenia and Azerbaijan as the two countries accused each other of instigating new rounds of shelling.
Azerbaijan has accused Armenia of large-scale provocations that started on September 12 in Azerbaijan-Armenia state border. Azerbaijan said that Armenian forces carried out “intensive” firing using mortars on Azerbaijani Army positions in Dashkasan, Kalbajar and Lachin regions with different types of weapons.
Azerbaijan used artillery, mortar and small arms in its attack on Wednesday morning, the ministry said in a statement.
Azerbaijan urged Armenia to agree to a long-lasting peace settlement. “We call on Armenia to refrain from its destructive activities and observe the humanitarian ceasefire. Peace in the region is only possible on the basis of strict adherence to International Law,” Azerbaijan foreign ministry said.
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan claimed 105 Armenian service personnel had died in clashes with Azerbaijan over the last two days.
At least 50 Azerbaijani soldiers have been killed in recent days in provocations by Armenia, Azerbaijan’s Defense Ministry said. “A total of 50 military personnel of the Armed Forces, including 42 military personnel from the Azerbaijan Army and 8 military personnel from the State Border Organization, were martyred while preventing large-scale provocations,” the ministry said in a statement.
Armenia responded saying that several towns near the border with Azerbaijan, including Jermuk, Goris and Kapan, were shelled in the early hours of Tuesday.
New clashes erupted between Azerbaijan and Armenia as international peace efforts intensified following the worst fighting between the countries since the 2020 war.
Armenia and Azerbaijan blame each other for the latest flare-up in the South Caucasus.
On September 13, French President Emmanuel Macron made a phone call to Azerbaijan President Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev. French president expressed his concern about the latest incident on the Armenia-Azerbaijan border.
President Ilham Aliyev noted that the issue of border tensions between Armenia and Azerbaijan would be put on the agenda of the UN Security Council at the initiative of France
Erdogan, Putin to discuss Armenia-Azerbaijan clashes
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan and Russia’s President Vladimir Putin will discuss the recent fighting between Armenia and Azerbaijan when they meet in Samarkand this week for the heads of states meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in Uzbekistan on September 15-16.
Russia is the preeminent power in the Caucasus and has peacekeeping troops in the Azeri-Armenian conflict zone. NATO member Turkey backs Azerbaijan.
