Fighting erupts between Armenia, Azerbaijan

Fighting between Armenia and Azerbaijan flared up again on Monday, in the disputed South Caucasus region of Nagorno-Karabakh.

Each side blamed the other for the fighting.

In a statement, Armenia’s defense ministry said Azerbaijan launched “intensive shelling” against Armenian military positions in the direction of the cities of Goris, Sok, and Jermuk at 00:05 am (20:05 GMT) on Tuesday. Azerbaijani troops used drones, as well as “artillery and large-calibre firearms,” it said, Russian media reported.

“Armenia’s armed forces have launched a proportionate response,” it added.

But Azerbaijan’s defense ministry accused Armenia of “large-scale subversive acts” near the districts of Dashkesan, Kelbajar, and Lachin on the border, adding that its army positions “came under fire, including from trench mortars”.

“There are losses among [Azerbaijani] servicemen,” it said, without giving figures.

On September 2, 1991, the people of Nagorno Karabakh declared independence from the Soviet Union and became the Nagorno Karabakh Republic.

The war ended in 1994, with Armenia’s victory, and for a quarter of a century Nagorno-Karabakh was under Armenian’s control, although its status was never internationally recognized.

After decades of stalemate, Azerbaijan suddenly recovered large parts of the region in a 2020 military campaign, forcing Armenia to make significant regional concessions.