Baku declares a state of war and imposes a curfew in several regions

Confrontations in "Nagorny Karabakh" ... and Azerbaijan and Armenia impose martial law

An Armenian soldier walks in a border trench with Azerbaijan.

Reuters

The Republic of Azerbaijan declared a state of war and imposed martial law, after clashes broke out in the disputed Nagorno Karabakh region with Armenia, while Armenia and the Nagorno Karabakh region declared martial law and general mobilization.

The official Azeri News Agency reported that the Azerbaijani parliament in the capital, Baku, agreed to declare a state of war in a special session, yesterday.

Martial law came into effect in all parts of Azerbaijan, at midnight last night, and starting this evening, a night curfew will also be imposed in Baku and other cities and areas near the confrontations.

Armenia and Azerbaijan seemed to be on the verge of engaging in an actual war, after the outbreak of confrontations between the Azerbaijani army and Armenian separatists, and the confrontations resulted in the deaths of soldiers and civilians from both sides, including at least a woman and a child.

In a televised speech, the Azerbaijani President, Ilham Aliyev, pledged victory over the Armenian forces, saying: "Our cause is fair and we will win."

On the other hand, Armenia and the Nagorno Karabakh region declared martial law and general mobilization, and the Armenian Prime Minister, Nikol Pashinyan, said, "Prepare to defend our holy land," accusing Azerbaijan of declaring war on the Armenian people.

According to Armenia, Azerbaijani forces attacked civilian areas in Karabakh, including the regional capital, Stepanakert, in an operation that resulted in the killing of a woman and a child.

And the Ministry of Defense in the Nagorno Karabakh region announced that it had destroyed four helicopters, 15 drones and 10 tanks for Azerbaijan, and in return Azerbaijan announced that its forces had entered six villages under the control of the Armenians.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said: “We call on the two parties to immediately cease fire and start talks to restore stability,” while Turkey held Armenia responsible for the outbreak of violence and pledged to support Azerbaijan. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said: “The Turkish nation stands, as it always has, by all means side by side Azerbaijani brothers and sisters ».

For his part, the Karabakh President accused Ankara of sending mercenaries to Azerbaijan, and said: "We have information that mercenaries from Turkey and other countries have been sent by air to Azerbaijan. The Turkish army is in a state of readiness in Azerbaijan under the pretext of military exercises."

Armenian separatists wrested Karabakh from Baku in a war in the 1990s that killed 30,000 people, and froze talks to resolve the Karabakh conflict, which is among the worst conflicts resulting from the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, since a ceasefire agreement concluded in 1994.

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