These are the deadliest fighting since 2020 in the Nagorno-Karabakh region. Clashes broke out on the border between Armenia and Azerbaijan, on the night of Monday 12 to Tuesday 13 september. Here is what we know about this renewed violence between the two neighboring countries.
Nearly 100 dead in clashes
Azerbaijan reported on Tuesday evening that 50 Azerbaijani soldiers were killed in clashes with Armenian forces on the border with Armenia. For his part, the Armenian Prime Minister, Nikol Pashinian, reported in the morning that 49 Armenian soldiers were killed, specifying that “unfortunately this is not the final number”.
LArmenia and Azerbaijan blame each other for these new clashes. Yerevan accused Baku of initiating hostilities through a “intensive bombardment” from its positions, in the direction of several towns, such as Goris and Sotk. L‘Azerbaijan meanwhile accused Armenia of“large-scale subversive acts”.
The Armenian Ministry of Defense clarified that “battles” took place at several points along the border. Azerbaijani troops, he said, tried to“to advance” in Armenian territory. He also assured that the enemy had targeted “military and civilian infrastructure”. “Azerbaijani forces continue to use artillery, mortars, drones and large-caliber rifles”the Armenian Defense Ministry said.
The region of Nagorno-Karabakh at the heart of the conflict
At the origin of the tensions between the two neighbors : fate of Nagorno-Karabakh. This mountainous region, populated mainly by Armenians, was attached to Azerbaijan before seceding with the support of Armenia. But Azerbaijan, supported by Turkey, has never given up on the idea of recovering its former province.
After a first war which made more than 30 000 deaths in the early 1990s, a conflict between the two countries had broken out for six weeks in the fall of 2020. It had caused more than 6 500 dead and ended in a ceasefire negotiated by Russia and a heavy defeat for Armenia, forced to cede several regions forming a glacis around the separatist enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh.
This debacle was experienced as a trauma by a large part of the Armenian population, which notably accuses Azerbaijan of having committed “war crimes” during this conflict. Despite the 2 000 Russian blue helmets deployed to oversee the truce, shootings have been regularly reported along the common border since 2020.
A Russian-brokered ceasefire
To end the current clashes, Russia announced that it had again negotiated a ceasefire, in force since Tuesday morning, according to Moscow. “We hope that the agreement reached following Russian mediation on a ceasefire from 9 hours, Moscow time (8 hours, French time)will be respected in its entirety”, said Russian diplomacy, saying to itself “extremely concerned by the marked deterioration of the situation”. “We call on the parties to refrain from any further escalation, to exercise restraint,” again urged the Russian Foreign Ministry.
For its part, Azerbaijan on Tuesday evening accused Armenia of violating “intensely” the ceasefire negotiated by Moscow. “Despite the declaration of a ceasefire (…) units of the Armenian armed forces (…) opened fire with artillery against the positions of the Azerbaijani army” on the Armenia-Azerbaijan border, the Defense Ministry said Azerbaijani. The latter did state of “response measures” to these shots.
The UN Security Council seized by France
After these new clashes, theFrance is going to seize the UN Security Council, of which it currently holds the presidency, the Elysée Palace announced on Tuesday. This statement comes after a telephone conversation between Emmanuel Macron and the Armenian Prime Minister.
Nikol Pashinyan also spoke separately overnight with Russian President Vladimir Putin and US Foreign Minister Antony Blinken. The head of the Armenian government took the opportunity to express “his deep concern about the current situation” and underline “the importance of an appropriate response from the international community”, according to the Armenian government.
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres on Tuesday called on Armenia and Azerbaijan to “take immediate action to defuse tensions”. The European Union for its part called on Tuesday for a cessation of hostilities and undertook mediation between the two countries, announced the head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell. “President [du Conseil] Charles Michel is in contact with the leaders of the two countries and I am talking today with the respective foreign ministers.”he specified.