Hours after the start of the Azerbaijani military operation, the death toll rose to 25, including two civilians, human rights official Gegam Sepanjam said on Tuesday evening. More than 7,000 residents of the Nagorno-Karabakh region have already been brought to safety.
So far, at least 138 people have been injured, including 29 civilians, Gegam Sepanjam wrote on platform X (formerly Twitter) on Tuesday evening. As reported, the Azerbaijani army began “anti-terrorist operations” in the Nagorno-Karabakh region on Tuesday morning. The Defense Ministry in Baku said the operations targeted Armenian forces.
According to its own information, Baku informed Russia and Turkey, which provide security forces and observers in the region, about the operation. They said they just wanted to restore constitutional order. To ensure that Armenian forces withdraw from the area, only military objects would be attacked.
Protests in Yerevan
The Armenian government has now called on the UN Security Council and the Russian government to halt Azerbaijan’s military deployment. An AFP reporter reported explosions on Tuesday. By 8 p.m., 25 deaths had been reported, including two civilians. A human rights official reported that more than 7,000 residents were brought to safety from 16 locations. In the Armenian capital Yerevan, people protested in the streets and demanded more decisive action from their Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.
Here you will find information about the Nagorno-Karabakh region in Azerbaijan.
The government of Azerbaijan is demanding the laying down of arms and resignation of the Armenian leadership in Nagorno-Karabakh as a condition for ending the operation. “The illegal Armenian military formations must raise the white flag and surrender all weapons, and the illegitimate regime must resign,” it said in a statement on Tuesday. Otherwise, hostilities would continue until the end.
Iran offers itself as a mediator
Some governments, including Austria, have issued initial statements calling for an end to the fighting. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has again backed Azerbaijan because it is about “protecting regional integrity.” The Iranian government has offered to mediate in the conflict. The ceasefire agreed in 2020 between Azerbaijan and Armenia, which share a border with Iran, must be respected. Just a few days ago, the Minister of Defense there warned of a war in the region.
Christian Orthodox Armenia and Muslim Azerbaijan, both former Soviet republics in the South Caucasus, have long been enemies. There was war in the early 1990s. In 2020, Azerbaijan retook parts of Nagorno-Karabakh, and the majority of Armenians still live there.
Source: Krone
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