Paris (AFP)

A journalist and a photographer who covered for Le Monde the conflict in Nagorno Karabakh, a separatist Azerbaijani territory supported by Armenia, were injured on Thursday, Le Monde editor Luc Bronner told AFP, without giving more details. details.

A medical plane will be sent by France to repatriate the wounded, announced French President Emmanuel Macron upon arriving at a European summit in Brussels, providing support to journalists and their families.

The bombardment took place on Thursday morning in the town of Martouni where the World's special envoys were located, the daily said.

"During the Azeri bombardments of civilian localities in Martouni, Artsakh, two French journalists from the daily Le Monde present on the spot were injured. They are transported to the city hospital," the ambassador of AFP told AFP. 'Armenia in France, Ms. Hasmik Tolmajian.

"At the time of the bombings, they were near the town hall of the town of Martouni. They are seriously injured and are undergoing an operation at the municipal hospital," she added in the afternoon.

"Journalists are injured. As far as we know, the Quai d'Orsay crisis center has been mobilized, as well as all of our capacities to be able, as quickly as possible, to organize repatriation," assured Emmanuel Macron.

"A medical plane is ready to leave as I speak to you. We are doing everything to stabilize the injured on the spot before allowing their evacuation. We will obviously remain mobilized on this subject with the journalists, our teams on site, the teams in Paris, the newspaper Le Monde and the families, ”he continued.

According to the Armenian authorities, two Armenian journalists were also injured by the shelling, while the Nagorny Karabakh authorities report four civilians killed and eleven injured, including journalists.

Several reporters (including an AFP team, which was not injured) accompanied the local authorities in the town of Martouni to interview the population and observe the damage caused by the bombardments, when the town was again taken under attack. fire.

The journalists then dispersed.

"The Armenian authorities failed to ensure the safety of foreign journalists during their visit to the combat zone. They are using foreign journalists for their propaganda. We ask foreign journalists to obtain permission from the Azeri camp to visit Karabakh and border areas, ”commented the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry.

According to reporter Régis Genté, who was on site for RFI / France 24, journalists were witnessing the damage caused by a bombardment on a house when they heard "a rocket in the space of a second", " the attack lasted about a minute, "he told France 24.

"Journalists are not military targets! The authorities must stop this violence without delay," responded Reporters Without Borders (RSF) on Twitter.

The separatist territory of Nagorno Karabakh has been the scene of bloody clashes between Azerbaijan and separatist forces backed by Armenia for five days.

Nagorny Karabakh, mostly populated by Armenians, seceded from Azerbaijan, leading to a war in the early 1990s that left 30,000 dead.

The front has been almost frozen since then, despite regular clashes, especially in 2016.

sr-vl-leb-rco / fmp / ach

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