Tension Escalates: Azerbaijan Announces ‘Counter-Terrorism Measures’ in Nagorno-Karabakh 

By Staff, Agencies 

The Azerbaijani military has launched “counter-terrorism measures of a local nature” in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh. The operation was touted as a way to “thwart large-scale provocations” by the Armenian side.

Baku stated that the goal of the military action was to disable “positions of the Armenian armed forces” and other military targets. It pledged not to attack civilian targets.

The ministry stated that it had informed the command of the Russian peacekeeping force deployed in the region, as well as the Russian-Turkish monitoring mission. 

It underlined that the operation was meant to enforce the trilateral agreement with Russia and Armenia, which provided the legal grounds for the presence of Russian peacekeepers. 

The statement accused Armenia of conducting a military build-up in Nagorno-Karabakh and launching sabotage operations against Azerbaijani troops.

This comes as Azerbaijan announced that six of its citizens had been killed by land mines in two separate incidents in the Nagorno-Karabakh region and blamed “illegal Armenian armed groups” for laying the deadly mines.

The landmine incidents occurred a day after badly needed food and medicine was delivered to Karabakh along two roads simultaneously, a step that looked like it could help ease mounting tension between Azerbaijan and Armenia.

Ties remain severely strained however.