Status: 05.03.2023 11:39 p.m
Several security forces were killed in a shootout in the Nagorno-Karabakh crisis region in the South Caucasus. The conflict parties Armenia and Azerbaijan present the incident in opposite directions.
In the disputed Caucasus region of Nagorno-Karabakh, there was an exchange of fire between Azerbaijani soldiers and Armenian police officers. Three police officers from Nagorno-Karabakh were killed, the Armenian Interior Ministry said, and spoke of an “attack” by opposing soldiers.
The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry, however, said that the soldiers wanted to check cars suspected of transporting weapons in Nagorno-Karabakh’s capital, Stepanakert, and came under fire. Azerbaijan also suffered losses, it said. But no numbers were given.
The incident is likely to add to the already high tensions in the region. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, Azerbaijan and Armenia have been at odds over the border region, which is mostly inhabited by Armenians.
New fights and truce 2020
In 2020, the decades-long conflict escalated again, leading to a war between Armenia and Azerbaijan that killed more than 6,000 people on both sides. After the fighting in 2020, Moscow brokered a ceasefire agreement that forced Armenia to give up large areas.
It is estimated that around 30,000 people have been killed in the military confrontations around Nagorno-Karabakh since the 1990s.