’Azerbaijan Captures Strategic Town In Nagorno-Karabakh’
By Stefan J. Bos, Special Correspondent Worthy News
(Worthy News) – Azerbaijan said Sunday its forces had captured a strategic town in the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh where fighting with Armenia has raged for more than a month.
“Shusha is ours,” said Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev using the Azerbaijani version of the city’s name. And, “Karabakh is ours,” he added in televised remarks to the nation.
If confirmed, it would be a significant victory for Azerbaijan in the ongoing conflict over the contested territory, friends and foes say. Armenia denied Shusha’s capture and claimed clashes were ongoing.
The fighting added to the suffering of Christians in the town. Last month Shusha’s Holy Savior Cathedral, also known as the Ghazanchetsots Cathedral, had its dome pierced by a shell that damaged the interior.
Some children were reportedly inside the church during the shelling, and although they were not wounded, they were still suffering from stress after the attack. Hundreds and possibly thousands of people have died in the worst fighting over Nagorno-Karabakh in years.
Armenia and Azerbaijan are locked for decades in a conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh, roughly the size of the U.S. state of Delaware.
The 4,400-square-kilometer (1,700-square-miles) enclave in the Caucasus Mountains is internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan. However, it is governed by ethnic Armenians backed by Armenia since 1994 after a full-scale separatist war. That conflict killed about 30,000 people and displaced an estimated 1 million.
There is mounting international concern that the latest conflict could once again lead to a broader war.
Adding to suffering are signs that people sick with the coronavirus pack into chilly basements alongside the healthy to hide from artillery fire.
The local health minister who tested positive reportedly kept working, despite a fever and pneumonia. Doctors with the virus perform surgery on the wounded, reporters noticed.
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