Armenia, Azerbaijan Say Troops Killed in Border Shootout

Facts

• The defense ministries of Armenia and Azerbaijan issued statements on Tuesday reporting that troops from both sides had been killed in a clash near the Lachin Corridor, with both sides blaming the other for initiating hostilities.¹
• Azerbaijan reported that three of its troops were killed, while Armenia reported four of its soldiers were killed and another six wounded. The clash occurred along the Lachin Corridor — a critical road into the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region.²
• Baku claimed that Armenian troops stationed near the settlement of Dyg, which lies on the contact line between the opposing forces, opened fire on Azerbaijani positions.³
• In contrast, Yerevan claimed instead that Azerbaijani forces opened fire on 'Armenian servicemen who were conducting engineering works.'³
• Last month, a similar clash erupted near the Lachin corridor, killing at least five. The conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan emerged immediately after their respective independence in the wake of the Soviet Union's collapse in the early 1990s, as Nagorno-Karabakh is an ethnically Armenian enclave that fell within Azerbaijan's territory.⁴
• The two countries have fought two full-scale wars, including one in 2020 which led to a series of Russian-brokered agreements that allows the Armenian movement into Nagorno-Karabakh. Tensions have risen in recent months since Azerbaijani protesters — which Armenia says are backed by Baku — have blocked the Lachin corridor.⁴

Sources: ¹Al Jazeera, ²Reuters, ³The times of india and ⁴Dw.com.

Narratives

• Narrative A, as provided by The armenian weekly. Azerbaijan continues to escalate the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh with provocative actions, as it wants to test the waters for a spring offensive against Armenia. Ethnic Armenians are facing continued oppression in Nagorno-Karabakh while the international community remains silent. Azerbaijan cannot continue making its aggressive threats.
• Narrative B, as provided by Aze.media. Armenia's leadership thinks it can escalate tensions while also playing the victim in the Nagorno-Karabakh, which is internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan. EU observers in the region have given Armenia the green light to provoke Azerbaijan by saying that Baku is planning a new offensive, for which there is simply no evidence. It seems, yet again, that it is Yerevan that wants more violence.