According to the Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan, in Karabakh, as part of the anti-terrorist operation, firing points and military facilities of the armed forces of Armenia have been taken out of order using high-precision weapons. An air alert has been announced in Stepanakert. According to the ombudsman of the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, at least 25 people were killed, including 2 civilians, and more than 100 were wounded, including 3 children in critical condition.
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‘’Local anti-terrorist operations have been initiated to ensure the provisions of the tripartite declaration, to prevent large-scale provocations in the Karabakh economic region, to disarm and expel the formations of the Armenian armed forces from our territories, to neutralize their military infrastructure, as well as to restore the peace of the civilian population returning to the territories freed from occupation and the civilian population engaged in construction and restoration works, ensure the safety of our military personnel, and to restore the constitutional order of the Republic of Azerbaijan,’’ said the statement issued by the Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan on the morning of September 19.
In order to stop the ‘’anti-terrorist measure,’’ the administration of the President of Azerbaijan called on the Armenian armed groups to surrender their weapons.
According to Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, Azerbaijan has launched a ground operation for ‘’ethnic cleansing of Armenians.’’
‘’Armed forces of Azerbaijan are bombing almost the entire territory of Nagorno-Karabakh. Armenia has not given anyone a mandate to carry out ethnic cleansing in Nagorno-Karabakh. Some internal and external forces are trying to drag Armenia into the war. I confirm once again that the armed forces of Armenia are not in Nagorno-Karabakh. It will not work. No matter how difficult it may be, especially emotionally, we should not allow certain forces, external or internal, to threaten Armenia's statehood,’’ said Pashinyan.
The European Union called on Azerbaijan to stop military operations.
According to international law, the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh is considered part of Azerbaijan. Ethnic Armenians mainly live in the region. During the Soviet rule, the Karabakh region was transformed into an autonomous district. In 1988, the people of Karabakh wanted Karabakh to be transferred from Soviet Azerbaijan to Soviet Armenia. The conflict escalated into a full-scale war in the early 1990s. The hostilities continued until 1994, and eventually the region came under the control of the local Armenians, who declared independence on the territory of Karabakh. The Republic of Karabakh was not recognized by any country, including Armenia. In the fall of 2020, the renewed military conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan, in which 7,000 soldiers and 170 civilians were killed, ended with a cease-fire agreement mediated by Russia. Baku regained control over a significant part of Nagorno-Karabakh and its surrounding territories. According to the agreement, Russian soldiers were deployed as peacekeepers in the Karabakh region.
