Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said Tuesday that 49 of his country’s soldiers were killed by forces from Azerbaijan during overnight attacks.
Speaking to Armenia’s National Assembly, Pashinyan said Azerbaijani forces attacked about half a dozen locations in the Caucasus nation, according to reports. Azerbaijan’s Foreign Affairs Ministry said in a statement that the aggression was in response to Armenian attacks against Azerbaijani soldiers, according to the Associated Press.
THREE KILLED IN RENEWED FIGHTING BETWEEN ARMENIAN AND AZERBAIJANI FORCES
“The intensity of hostilities has decreased, but attacks on one or two fronts from Azerbaijan continue,” Pashinyan said in his speech, according to Reuters.
The Armenian Defense Ministry said in a statement that large-caliber artillery weapons, small arms, and drones were used in the attacks, according to Russian media outlet Interfax.
Azerbaijan’s Defense Ministry said the clashes broke out after Armenian saboteurs were discovered attempting to plant land mines near the Azerbaijani army’s positions along the border, according to Interfax.
Three soldiers, one from Azerbaijan and two from Armenia, were reported to have been killed last month when the countries traded fire during a flare-up in tensions over the contested Nagorno-Karabakh region.
In response, Armenia mobilized some of its military forces.
The United States has urged both sides to cease hostilities immediately.
“As we have long made clear, there can be no military solution to the conflict,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement on Monday, before the latest attacks. “We urge an end to any military hostilities immediately.”
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The two nations previously clashed over the Nagorno-Karabakh region in 2020 during a 45-day war in which more than 6,000 people were killed. Azerbaijan reclaimed parts of Nagorno-Karabakh and its surrounding areas during that conflict.
Nearly 2,000 Russian peacekeeping troops have been stationed in the region since the end of the 2020 war, per a treaty agreement.
