Azerbaijan – Armenia: Hostilities on the border – Reports of casualties on both sides

Hostilities broke out around midnight at the border Azerbaijan and of Armeniawith references to victims between the military forces on either side.

The Ministry of Defense of Armenia announced that “at 00:05 on September 13, the armed forces of Azerbaijan launched heavy artillery and heavy-caliber weapons attacks against positions of the Armenian army near Goris, Sotk and Jermuk regions.”

For its part, the Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan announced that its forces launched attacks as retaliation for the mining areas of Armenians in Dashkasan, Kalbazar and Lachin. Blaming Yerevan for the clashes, he said there were casualties among military forces on both sides.

As reported by APE-MPE, the relations between the two former Soviet republics aresuspended since 1991, due to the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh enclave. The conflict over its control escalated again in autumn 2020, when a 44-day war broke out, during which Azeri forces took control of several sectors.

The war ended thanks to a peace agreement brokered by Russia, however, Baku and Yerevan occasionally accuse each other of ceasefire violations along the border.

The US appeals for an end to hostilities

US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken expressed today the intense concern of the US government due to reports of hostilities along the border between Armenia and Azerbaijan, calling for an immediate end to the conflicts.

“As we have long made clear, there can be no military solution to the conflict,” the US top diplomat said in a statement. “We call for an immediate end to military hostilities,” he underlines.

*File photo