At least 135 Armenian soldiers were killed this week in the worst border clashes with Azerbaijan since a war in 2020, according to a new report announced Friday, September 16 by Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian.
“Unfortunately, this is not the final figure. There are also many injured., Pashinyan said at a meeting of his government. This brings the death toll on both sides to more than 200.
On the Azerbaijani side, the toll to date is 71 soldiers killed, according to Baku, since Tuesday. These clashes, unprecedented since 2020, threaten the fragile peace process between Armenia and Azerbaijan, two rival countries in the Caucasus.
A “respected” ceasefire on Thursday
Russia, a traditional mediator in this region, had announced a truce on Tuesday morning, but it had been violated for two days, the two sides accusing each other of bombing. A ceasefire was, however, “respected” Thursday, according to the European Union.
These clashes are the most intense since a war between the two countries in 2020 for control of the Nagorny-Karabakh enclave, which left more than 6,500 dead and led Yerevan to cede territory to Baku.
These events come as Moscow, which deployed a peacekeeping force to the region after the 2020 war, is all about its military offensive in Ukraine. Before 2020, Armenia and Azerbaijan had already clashed in the 1990s over Nagorny-Karabakh, a conflict that claimed more than 30,000 lives.