Intense Firefight as Azerbaijani Forces Attack Armenian Positions in Southern Syunik Region

YEREVAN — Azerbaijani forces have fired on Armenian positions using artillery and armored vehicles on the Armenia-Azerbaijan state border in the southern Syunik region on November 16 at around 1pm, according to a statement released by the Armenian Defense Ministry.

The ministry confirmed that the Armenian side has casualties – both killed and wounded soldiers – as a result of border clashes.

In a statement the ministry said that information about casualties was still being specified. It added that Armenian armed forces also lost two military posts as a result of fighting along the border.

“As of 4 p.m., the situation on the eastern border of Armenia continues to remain extremely tense,” the Armenian Defense Ministry said.

Earlier, military authorities in Yerevan confirmed that four Armenian soldiers were wounded in clashes with Azerbaijani armed forces.

Armen Grigoryan, the Secretary of Armenia’s Security Council, said in a televised interview that Armenia is applying to Russia, its strategic ally, to seek help in “recovering the country’s territorial integrity.” Grigoryan said that there are casualties and wounded on both sides, but he did not clarify the exact number. Grigoryan stated that the defense ministry will provide additional information in the near future.

Armenia’s Foreign Ministry also issued a statement, stressing that under the UN Charter, the republic has the right to repel aggression against its territorial integrity and sovereignty “by all available means.”

“We call on the international community and our international partners – Russia, CSTO, OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairmanship and Co-Chair countries – to express a clear and targeted response to these actions of the Azerbaijani side, which undermine regional peace and security, and undertake effective steps aimed at its prevention as well as unconditional and complete withdrawal of the Azerbaijani armed forces from the territory of the Republic of Armenia,” the ministry said.

The latest flare-up of tensions between Armenia and Azerbaijan comes amid a call from international mediators to de-escalate the situation along the volatile border.

In a statement issued late on Monday, the American, Russian and French co-chairs of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe’s Minsk Group also urged the sides “to refrain from inflammatory rhetoric and provocative actions, and implement in full the commitments they undertook under the November 9 statement and other jointly agreed [Nagorno-Karabakh] ceasefire arrangements.”