Deadly Fight Erupts Between Azerbaijan, Armenia
By Stefan J. Bos, Special Correspondent Worthy News
(Worthy News) – Fresh fighting erupted Thursday on the border between Azerbaijan and Armenia, dashing hopes of an end to the worst clashes between the neighbors in years.
Azerbaijan said another of its soldiers had been killed in the violence following a day-long lull in the conflict. The latest clashes brought to 17 the number of dead on both sides since fighting broke out between the arch-rivals on Sunday.
The two ex-Soviet republics have been locked for decades in a conflict over Azerbaijan’s southwestern separatist region of Nagorny Karabakh. Ethnic Armenian separatists seized the area n a 1990s war that claimed 30,000 lives.
The recent fighting surprisingly broke out hundreds of kilometers from Karabakh, in the northern regions of Tovuz in Azerbaijan and Tavush in Armenia. Local villagers on both sides of the border told reporters their homes had come under fire, and they feared for their lives.
In a surprise move on Thursday, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev sacked his long-serving foreign minister, Elmar Mammadyarov, after denouncing his performance during the crisis. The education minister, Jeyhun Bayramov, replaced him.
US, EU CONCERNED
The fighting has prompted calls for immediate de-escalation from the United States, the European Union, and regional powerbroker Russia. Turkey has spoken out in support of its ally Azerbaijan.
It is unclear what sparked the latest flare-up, but analysts suggested that it could have been a small incident like a cross-border shooting that quickly escalated.
Earlier this week, thousands demonstrated in Azerbaijan calling for war as they blamed Armenia for the deadly clashes. Protesters marched through the capital Baku demanding the government fully deploy the army, with some even entering the nation’s parliament.
Security forces responded with water cannon and tear gas to disperse the crowds. Both Armenia and Azerbaijan were part of the Soviet Union before its collapse in the turbulent 1990s.
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