Armenian–Azerbaijani border conflict

Armenian–Azerbaijani border conflict
Part of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict
Date 12 May 1994 (ceasefire) – present (21 years, 9 months and 1 day) Location Armenia–Azerbaijan state border, Nagorno-Karabakh–Azerbaijan line of contact Status Ongoing
Belligerents
Nagorno-Karabakh  Armenia Supported by:  Russia	Azerbaijan Supported by:  Turkey
Commanders and leaders
Current Leaders: Bako Sahakyan Arayik Harutyunyan Movses Hakobyan Serzh Sargsyan Seyran Ohanyan	Current Leaders: Ilham Aliyev Artur Rasizade Zakir Hasanov (2013-present) Safar Abiyev Najmaddin Sadigov
Units involved
Nagorno-Karabakh Defense Army Armed Forces of Armenia Armenian Army Armenian Border Guard	Azerbaijani Armed Forces Azerbaijani Land Forces
Strength
Armenia: 45,850 active servicemen NKR: 14,500 active servicemen	66,940 active servicemen
Casualties and losses
107 soldiers and 11 civilians killed (2010–2015)	114+ soldiers and 3 civilians killed (2010–2015)
~3,000 (May 1994–August 2009)[1] 235+ killed (2010–2015)

The Armenian–Azerbaijani border conflict is a sporadic border war on the Armenian–Azerbaijan border and at the line of contact between the Nagorno-Karabakh and Azerbaijan.

Background

As the Soviet Union was dissolving, ethnic Armenians in Azerbaijan fought a brief conflict, backed by Armenia proper, that resulted in the de facto independence of Nagorno-Karabakh (NKR) alongside a 1994 ceasefire agreement and what academics have called a frozen conflict. At the same time, Azerbaijan controls the exclave of the Nakhichivan Autonomous Republic bordering Armenia that is not contiguous with its main territory.

Some clashes occurred in the years following the 1994 ceasefire.^[2] Although no exact casualty figures exist, by 2009, as many as 3,000 people, mostly soldiers, had been killed, according to most observers.^[3] In 2008, the fighting became more intense and frequent.^[4] With 72 deaths recorded throughout the year, 2014 became the bloodiest since the war ended.^[2]

Conflict

2008 Mardakert skirmishes

The 2008 Mardakert skirmishes began on 4 March after the 2008 Armenian election protests. It involved the heaviest fighting between ethnic Armenian^[5] and Azerbaijani forces^[6] over the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh^[6][7] since the 1994 ceasefire after the Nagorno-Karabakh War.

Armenian sources accused Azerbaijan of trying to take advantage of ongoing unrest in Armenia. Azerbaijani sources blamed Armenia, claiming that the Armenian government was trying to divert attention from internal tensions in Armenia.

Following the incident, on March 14 the United Nations General Assembly by a recorded vote of 39 in favour to 7 against adopted Resolution 62/243, demanding the immediate withdrawal of all Armenian forces from the "occupied territories" of Azerbaijan.^[8]

2010 violence

The February 2010 Nagorno-Karabakh skirmish was a scattered exchange of gunfire that took place on February 18 on the line of contact dividing Azerbaijani and the Karabakh Armenian military forces. Azerbaijan accused the Armenian forces of firing on the Azerbaijani positions near Tap Qaraqoyunlu, Qızıloba, Qapanlı, Yusifcanlı and Cavahirli villages, as well as in uplands of Agdam Rayon with small arms fire including snipers.^[9][10] As a result, three Azerbaijani soldiers were killed and one wounded.^[11]

The 2010 Mardakert skirmishes were a series of violations of the Nagorno-Karabakh War ceasefire. They took place across the line of contact dividing Azerbaijan and the ethnic Armenian military forces of the unrecognized but de facto independent Nagorno-Karabakh Republic. Both sides accused the other of violating the ceasefire regime. These were the worst violations of the cease fire (which has been in place since 1994) in two years and left Armenian forces with the heaviest casualties since the Mardakert skirmishes of March 2008.^[12]

Between 2008 and 2010, 74 soldiers were killed on both sides.^[3]

2011–2015 continued fighting

On 10 March 2011, a 10-year-old Azerbaijani boy was killed by Armenian sniper fire.^[13]

In late April 2011, border clashes left three Nagorno-Karabakh soldiers dead,^[14] while on 5 October, two Azeri and one Armenian soldier were killed.^[15] In all during the year, 10 Armenian soldiers were killed.^[16]

The following year, border clashes between the armed forces of Armenia and Azerbaijan took place from late April through early June. The clashes resulted in the deaths of five Azeri and four Armenian soldiers. In all during 2012, 19 Azeri and 14 Armenian soldiers were killed.^[17] Another report put the number of Azeri dead at 20.^[2]

Throughout 2013, 12 Azeri and 7 Armenian soldiers were killed in border clashes.^[17]

In 2014, several border clashes erupted that had resulted in 16 fatalities on both sides by 20 June.^[18]

On 2 August, Azeri authorities announced that eight of their soldiers had been killed in three days of clashes with NKO forces, the biggest single death toll for the country's military since the 1994 war.^[19] NKO denied any casualties on their side, while saying the Azeris had suffered 14 dead and many more injured.^[19] Local officials in Nagorno-Karabakh reported at least two Armenian military deaths in what was the largest incident in the area since 2008.^[20] Five more Azeri troops were killed the following night, bringing the death toll from the August clashes to at least 15. The violence prompted Russia to issue a strong statement, warning both sides not to escalate the situation further.^[21]

By August 5, 2014 the fighting that started on 27 July had left 14 Azeri and 5 Armenian soldiers dead. Overall, 27 Azeri soldiers had died since the start of the year in border clashes.^[22]

In a separate incident in July 2014, the NKR Defense Army announced that troops had killed one and arrested two members of an Azerbaijani subversive group that had penetrated the contact line.^[23] In addition to spying on Armenian troop movements and military installations and civilian settlements in Karvachar (Kelbajar), the team was charged with the murder of Smbat Tsakanyan, a seventeen-year-old Armenian boy and resident of the village of Jumen. Both surviving members of the group were sentenced to life in prison by an Armenian court. In July 2015, video footage recorded by the team was released to the public and aired on Armenian state television.^[24]

On November 12, 2014, the Azerbajani armed forces shot down a Nagorno-Karabakh Defense Army Mil Mi-24 helicopter over Karabakh's Agdam district. Three servicemen were killed in the incident. Armenia’s Defense Ministry stated the aircraft was unarmed and called its downing an “unprecedented provocation.” Azeri authorities claimed the helicopter was “trying to attack” Azeri army positions.^[25] Armenian authorities stated that Azerbaijan will face "grave consequences".^[26] With the crash, 2014 became the deadliest year for Armenian forces since the 1994 ceasefire agreement, with 27 soldiers killed in addition to 34 fatalities on the Azeri side.^[27] Six Armenian civilians also died in 2014, while by the end of the year the number of Azeri soldiers killed rose to 39.^[2]

In fighting between 23 and 25 January 2015, three Azerbaijani and two Armenian soldiers were killed.^[28] By end of April, the number of killed since the start of the year rose to 28 Armenian^[29][30] as well as one soldier crossed the border due to "harsh conditions"^[31] and second one was caught near the border while Azerbaijani side lost 8 Azeri soldiers.^[32]

On June 27, one Armenian soldier was killed on border.^[33]

On July 4, 2015, the Azerbaijan's Defense Ministry claimed that its military shot down two drones over the contact line;^[34] these claims were categorically denied by a spokesman for the Ministry of Defense of Armenia, which stated that even the photographs circulated by the Azerbaijan Defense Ministry were of an Azerbaijani drone that the NKR Defense Army had downed in 2011.^[35]

On August 24, the Azerbaijani defense ministry stated 5 Armenian soldiers were killed and 3 Azeri soldiers wounded in a border clash. The Nagorno-Karabakch defense ministry released a separate statement claiming 4 Azeri soldiers were killed and 15 wounded.^[36]

On September 25, four Armenian soldiers were confirmed killed by artillery and gunfire by Azeri forces in the Nagorno-Karabakh border. Three Armenian civilians were also killed in a separate attack on a village.^[37] Several days later, three Azeri soldiers were killed as well in an artillery duel.^[38]

In November and December, in two incidents, four Nagorno-Karabakh and four Azeri soldiers were killed in clashes.^[39][40][41] On December 18, Azerbaijani soldier Taleh Karimov, was killed.^[42]

2016

On January 9, the first casualty of 2016 was a Nagorno-Karabakh soldier Aramayis Voskanian, who was killed by Azeri sniper fire while serving in the eastern direction of the Line of Contact.^[43][44]

On January 30, an Azerbaijani soldier was killed along the border in a "sabotage act".^[45]

On February 4, an Azerbaijani soldier, Imran Mirzayev, died in a skirmish along the border with Armenian troops.^[46] The next day, NKR Private Simon Chavrshyan was killed.^[47]

On February 10, another Azeri soldier, Rahib Guliyev, died along the frontline according to the Azerbaijani defense ministry, as a result of an Armenian sabotage.^[48]

On February 12, Hakob Hambartsumyan, an Armenian herdsman from Vazgenashen, was killed by an Azeri sniper.^[49]

Fatalities

See also

• Nagorno-Karabakh Republic

References