In the conflict over the southern Caucasus region of Nagorno-Karabakh, Armenia and Azerbaijan accused each other of targeting civilians. The Azerbaijani presidential adviser Hikmet Hajjev announced on Twitter yesterday evening that the Armenian armed forces had launched rocket attacks against „Azerbaijani civilians and civil infrastructure“.
The Armenian Foreign Ministry in turn accused the Azerbaijani troops of “deliberately attacking the civilian population” when attacking Stepanakert and other cities.
Explosions in the largest cities
According to Armenian sources, Azerbaijani soldiers once again bombed Stepanakert, the capital of the self-proclaimed Nagorno-Karabakh Republic. AFP reporters reported numerous explosions and clouds of black smoke over the city. Dead and injured were reported from Stepanakert and the city of Shusha.
The Azerbaijani Ministry of Defense said Armenian troops had bombed the second largest Azerbaijani city of Ganja. Destroyed houses in the city of 330,000 people could be seen on video recordings. Hajjev said Armenian forces had also attacked the industrial city of Mingechavir and the Absheron district, some 80 kilometers from the capital Baku.
Tone clearly sharper
A week after the fierce fighting over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region began, the tone of voice between the conflicting parties has become much sharper. International mediation attempts have so far been unsuccessful. The de facto government in Nagorno-Karabakh yesterday threatened to expand military activities to „the entire territory of Azerbaijan“.
Russia worried
Meanwhile, there are growing concerns abroad that the conflict will escalate further. Russia expressed concern about rising civilian casualties. Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov called for a ceasefire as soon as possible. According to his Ministry in Moscow, he telephoned his Armenian colleague Sohrab Mnazakanyan last night.
Armenia sees Russia as a protective power, while Turkey is the closest ally of the oil and gas-rich ex-Soviet republic of Azerbaijan. The Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan had discussed Russia’s stronger role at the weekend.
Possible Russian peacekeeping forces should be discussed in the Minsk Group of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), he suggested. In this format Russia, France and the USA mediate in the conflict.
