Between Armenia and Azerbaijan, tensions are still high. At least four Armenian soldiers were killed and three Azerbaijani soldiers injured in new clashes near the border, in a context of latent conflict in Nagorny-Karabakh. The Sotk region, where the clash took place according to Yerevan, is located in southeastern Armenia, on the border with Azerbaijan, where incidents are common between the armies of the two countries.
The last major murderous clash dated back to June 28, when four Armenian soldiers had already been killed in Nagorny-Kabarakh, a separatist region with an Armenian majority disputed between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Baku and Yerevan had accused each other of responsibility for this new escalation in this mountainous area at the heart of tensions since the 1990s.
The peace process stalled despite the mediations
These armed incidents at the border come as Yerevan has accused Baku since December of hampering supplies to Nagorno-Karabakh, by blocking a crucial route, the Lachin corridor, causing shortages and a “humanitarian crisis”.
Baku, which defends the installation of a checkpoint citing security reasons, says that civilian transport can circulate unhindered via this land axis. In this delicate context, the Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian had estimated in mid-July with AFP that a new war of his country with Azerbaijan was “very likely”.
The last war between the two countries, in 2020, ended in the defeat of Armenia, which had to cede territories to Azerbaijan in and around Nagorny-Karabakh. The peace process has since stalled, despite the mediation efforts of Russia, the Europeans and the United States.