Fierce fighting raged between Azerbaijani and Armenian forces on Monday, sparking bellicose rhetoric from regional power Turkey despite international pleas for a halt in fighting between the long-time enemies.
On Monday evening, Azerbaijani forces launched a “massive offensive at the Karabakh frontline’s southern and north-eastern sectors,” said Armenia’s defence ministry spokesman Artsrun Hovhannisyan.
Karabakh’s defence ministry said 26 more of its troops were killed late on Monday, bringing the rebels’ total military losses to 84.
The overall death count rose to 95, including 11 civilian deaths: nine in Azerbaijan and two on the Armenian side.
Azerbaijan has not reported any military casualties, but Armenian separatist officials released footage showing burnt-out armoured vehicles and the bloodied and charred remains of soldiers in camouflage it said were Azerbaijani troops.
Yerevan and Baku have been locked in a territorial dispute over the ethnic Armenian region of Nagorny Karabakh for decades, with deadly fighting flaring up last July and in 2016.
The region declared independence from Azerbaijan after a war in the early 1990s that claimed 30,000 lives but it is not recognised by any country — including Armenia — and is still considered part of Azerbaijan by the international community.
Fighting between majority-Muslim Azerbaijan and Christian Armenia could embroil regional players, Russia and Turkey.❐
