Nagorno-Karabakh: fighting intensifies on the front line, civilians flee to Armenia
A soldier from the Nagorno-Karabakh defense army fires an artillery piece at Azeri positions during the fighting in the separatist region of Nagorno-Karabakh, September 28, 2020. Handout / Armenian Defense Ministry / AFP
Text by: RFI Follow
3 min
The fighting continues for the seventh consecutive day, this Saturday, in Nagorno-Karabakh.
The Armenian authorities assure that Azerbaijan has launched a major offensive.
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Hit several times the day before by
Azerbaijani bombings, Stepanakert
, the capital of
Nagorno-Karabakh
, lived a quieter night but the clashes were violent on Saturday on the front line, according to the Armenian and separatist authorities.
The president of the separatist territory, Arayik Haroutiounian, told reporters that the "
last battle
" for Nagorno-Karabakh had started, adding, dressed in a camouflage uniform, that he was joining the front line to fight alongside his troops. .
Fifty-one more soldiers from the Nagorno-Karabakh army have died in the fighting, Armenian authorities said on Saturday.
The separatist army "
succeeded in stopping the large-scale attack by the enemy
", for its part indicated, on her Facebook page, the spokeswoman for the Armenian Ministry of Defense, Shouchan Stepanian, who spoke of "
Fierce fighting
", adding that "
the Armenian forces
[had]
launched a counter-offensive on one of the points of the front
".
Communication battle
The Azerbaijani army claimed that 19
Azerbaijani
villages
had been the target of Armenian fire during the night and assured to take "
resolute response measures
", claiming in particular the taking of separatist positions.
Since the start of hostilities, only partial reports have been communicated, reporting a total of 191 dead: 158 soldiers from Nagorno-Karabakh, 14 Armenian civilians, and 19 Azerbaijani civilians, Baku not communicating its losses.
On the other hand, each camp claims
successes denied by the other
and reports hundreds of enemy soldiers killed every day.
The Armenians thus assure that more than 3,000 Azerbaijani soldiers have perished since the resumption of hostilities on September 27, Baku claiming to have killed 2,300 Armenian soldiers.
Civilians flee to Yerevan
In Nagorno-Karabakh, more and more civilians are leaving the area to reach Yerevan, the Armenian capital,
reports our special
correspondent
,
Anissa El Jabri.
“
I only took the important things
: clothes and toiletries.
I was born here, I grew up here, I was educated there and I graduated from this university and yes this is the first time I left my country.
I really do it because I believe I have no choice.
I don't know how long I'll be gone, but as soon as the situation improves, I'll come back
”, tells RFI a woman who is waiting to be able to board a van for Yerevan.
Beside her, a group of three women observes the line departures.
“
We're not leaving.
We're not going anywhere.
We stay on our land,
”explains one of them.
These women are from the generation that lived through the war of the 90s. Like many Armenians in Azerbaijan, they fled this country to reach Nagorno-Karabakh when the territory proclaimed its independence.
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