Azerbaijan launches "anti-terrorist operation" in Nagorno-Karabakh

Armenia denounces "another large-scale aggression" against Nagorno-Karabakh and Baku stresses that it attacks "legitimate military objectives"

The Government of Azerbaijan announced this Tuesday the start of "anti-terrorist activities" in Nagorno Karabakh after denouncing the death of two civilians and four soldiers due to the explosion of two anti-personnel mines in the region, amid continuing tensions with Armenia.

The Azeri Ministry of Defense has announced in a statement published on its website the launch of "anti-terrorist activities of a local nature" to "guarantee order and restore the constitutional structure of Azerbaijan."

"During anti-terrorist activities in the Azeri Karabakh region, neither the civilian population nor civilian infrastructure facilities are being targeted. Only legitimate military targets are being incapacitated through the use of high-precision weapons available in the arsenals of the Azerbaijani Army."

"Taking into account the deployment of firepower by the Armenian armed formations near residential areas, we ask the civilian population to stay away from military installations and not to support the formations of the Armenian armed forces," he stressed, before to emphasize that Baku has sent "information related" to this point to "Armenian residents in the Azeri region of Karabakh through mobile messaging services."

Likewise, he stressed that "the population is being warned through loudspeakers and pamphlets are being handed out." "The protection and security of administrative, social, educational, medical and religious facilities will be organized in line with the laws of Azerbaijan and the norms of International Law," he added.

In this way, he has reiterated that "the continued presence of Armenian armed forces in Karabakh is a serious threat to peace and stability in the region" and has stressed that this situation "goes against the clauses of the tripartite agreement signed on November 10 2020", which included a ceasefire after the last war in Nagorno Karabakh.

"Women, children, the elderly, people with disabilities and the sick will receive the necessary help and other assistance. They will be given drinking water and food," said the Azeri Ministry of Defense, which added that "humanitarian corridors and stations have been created reception on the Lachín highway and in other directions to guarantee the evacuation of the population from the danger zone".

YEREVAN TALKS ABOUT "ETHNIC CLEANSENESS"

Following Baku's announcement, the Government of Armenia has accused Azerbaijan of "unleashing another large-scale aggression against the population of Nagorno Karabakh, aimed at completing its policy of ethnic cleansing." "Guided by its sense of impunity, Azerbaijan has openly assumed responsibility for the aggression," the Armenian Foreign Ministry said.

"We firmly condemn Azerbaijan's aggression against Nagorno-Karabakh and the mass crime that took place exactly three years ago, in 2020. It is the continuation of Azerbaijan's large-scale use of force," he noted, before confirming that the region's capital, Stepanakert, and other towns are under artillery attacks "under the empty pretext of 'destroying military objects'."

In this way, he has maintained that "Armenia has repeatedly warned of Azerbaijan's continued aggressive actions against Nagorno Karabakh, of openly belligerent rhetoric, absolutely false and condemnable propaganda branding the population of Nagorno Karabakh as terrorists with the aim of subjecting the population of Nagorno Karabakh to ethnic cleansing through the use of force."

Yerevan has cited as an example the "illegal blockade" of the Lachin corridor by Baku and has stressed that "the attack was preceded by the publication of false information by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan about mine attacks and operations of sabotage, indicating that the attack was planned.

"We declare once again that the Armed Forces and equipment of Armenia are not deployed in Nagorno Karabakh and that all news about laying mines and sabotage operations are false and invented," he said, before calling on the international community to "take clear and unequivocal steps to end Azerbaijan's aggression."

For its part, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the self-proclaimed republic of Nagorno Karabakh - officially known as Artsakh - has denounced on its account on the social network X, formerly known as Twitter, that "Azerbaijan has launched a large-scale military offensive "and added that Stepanakert and other cities "are being intensely attacked with artillery."

"Azerbaijan continues its ethnic cleansing of Artsakh by forcibly leaving 120,000 people from their homes. The failure of international actors to lift the blockade and prevent a genocide in Artsakh has provided a 'green light' for Azerbaijan to launch a military offensive against 120,000 people under siege in Artsakh," he denounced.

KILLED IN AZERBAIJAN DUE TO MINE EXPLOSION

Shortly before, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry had indicated that in a first incident two civilians have died due to the explosion of an anti-tank mine in the Khojavand region and has stressed that it was placed "by a sabotage group of the Armenian armed forces in the territories of temporary deployment of the Russian peacekeeping contingent in Azerbaijan".

Likewise, he noted that shortly afterwards "four members of the Ministry of the Interior staff sent to the area of ​​the aforementioned terrorist attack" died due to the explosion of another mine in a tunnel located in the town of Taghaverd.

"The mine explosion in the Khojavand region once again demonstrates that the main objective of Armenia, which has not withdrawn its armed forces from the territory of Azerbaijan (...), and its puppet regime is to raise military tensions in the region and participate in acts of terrorism," he said.

In this sense, he has elaborated that "the purpose of these provocations is to prevent large-scale reconstruction from being carried out after the conflict, to alter the lives of the civilian population living in these territories and to stop the return of internally displaced persons and their peaceful life in their territories.

On the other hand, the Azeri Ministry of Defense has reported that two other soldiers have been injured by shots fired by the Armenian Army against their positions in the Aghdam region, although the Armenian Ministry of Defense has accused Baku of giving information " that does not correspond to reality."

Baku has also accused "illegal Armenian armed detachments" of "using radio interference against the satellite navigation systems of civil aircraft flying over Azerbaijan's airspace", citing a case recorded on Monday on a flight between Georgia and Baku.

Armenia and Azerbaijan have exchanged accusations in recent months of violating the 2020 ceasefire, which ended the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War - after that of 1994 -. The conflict ended with victory for Azerbaijan, which recovered territories taken by Armenia in the First Nagorno-Karabakh War, including the important city of Shusha.

Since then, both countries have maintained various contacts to try to sign a peace agreement, although the talks have encountered various obstacles, including the situation around the Lachin corridor, which connects Armenia with the self-proclaimed republic of Arstaj. The area has the presence of Russian soldiers deployed as peacekeepers under the aforementioned ceasefire agreement.