Azerbaijan’s army besieges Armenia’s forces in Aghdara-Terter region
BY DAILY SABAH, SEP 30, 2020
The Azerbaijani army besieged Armenian forces in the Aghdara-Terter area bordering Nagorno-Karabakh on Wednesday, the fourth consecutive day of fighting in the biggest eruption of violence in the decades-old conflict, the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry stated.
The operation aims to destroy Armenian forces with artillery fire and clear the area, it added.
The ministry statement said Armenia targeted Azerbaijan’s Terter region with artillery fire in the morning hours, which led to damage in infrastructure while no civilians were injured.
Dozens of people have been reported killed and hundreds wounded since the new wave of fighting broke out on Sunday.
Azerbaijan’s parliament declared martial law in some cities and areas, following Armenia’s border violations and attacks in the occupied Nagorno-Karabakh region.
The ministry added that 2,300 Armenian soldiers have been killed and wounded since Sept. 27.
In addition, approximately 130 tanks and armored vehicles, more than 200 artillery and missile systems, approximately 25 air defense systems, six command and observation zones, five ammunition depots, approximately 50 anti-tank guns and 55 cars were destroyed, it added.
The Nagorno-Karabakh region, internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, has been controlled by Armenian separatists since the conflict broke out following the disintegration of the Soviet Union in 1991.
Though a cease-fire was agreed on in 1994, Baku and Yerevan still regularly accuse each other of attacks around Nagorno-Karabakh and along the Azerbaijani-Armenian border.
There are four U.N. Security Council (UNSC) and two U.N. General Assembly (UNGA) resolutions as well as innumerable calls by international organizations that demand the withdrawal of the occupational Armenian forces from Nagorno-Karabakh and seven other occupied regions of Azerbaijan.