Battles between the two hostile countries have broken out again today on the border between Azerbaijan and Armenia. The Armenian Defense Ministry in Yerevan said that the Azerbaijani army had been firing on „Armenian villages with mortar grenades and howitzers“ on the northern border since early morning.
The Azerbaijani Ministry of Defense, on the other hand, said that fighting near the border broke out after the Armenians fired on „Azerbaijani villages with large-caliber weapons“.
Most difficult battles since 2016
Border battles between the Azerbaijani and Armenian armies had repeatedly occurred in the previous days. Eleven Azerbaijani soldiers, including a general and a civilian, were killed. There were four fatalities on the Armenian side.
It was the most difficult battle between the two hostile neighboring countries since 2016. Both parties to the conflict blamed the other side for the violence. The situation had calmed down on Wednesday and there was no fighting.
Conflict for 30 years
The two Caucasus countries, Armenia and Azerbaijan, have been in conflict over control of the Nagorno-Karabakh region for almost 30 years. Nagorno-Karabakh, which is mostly inhabited by Armenians, was struck in Azerbaijan during the Soviet era. Pro-Armenian rebels took control of the area in the late 1980s. Nagorno-Karabakh proclaimed its independence in 1991, but the area is still not recognized internationally as an independent state.
Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev criticized a few days ago that talks to settle the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict had stalled. In this context, he did not rule out a new military conflict with Armenia. The night before yesterday, thousands of demonstrators in Azerbaijan’s capital Baku called for a military offensive against Armenia.
