Moscow: Armenia asked on tuesday Russia to help defend against Azerbaijan After a border conflict in which it said 15 of its soldiers were killed, 12 were captured, and two battlefields were lost.
The fighting was the worst since last year’s 44-day war fought between ethnic Armenian forces and Azeri Army on the Nagorno-Karabakh enclave which killed at least 6,500 men and ended in a decisive victory for Azerbaijan.
The conflict ended after Russia mediated a peace deal and deployed about 2,000 peacekeepers to the region. Turkey sided with Azerbaijan, which regained the ground lost in the earlier conflict.
In a series of statements made by Armenian and Russian news agencies, the Armenian Defense Ministry said its troops had come under fire from Azeri artillery, small arms and armor.
It said 15 of its soldiers were killed, 12 were captured and two battlefields were lost near the border with Azerbaijan.
“Since Azerbaijan has invaded the sovereign territory of Armenia, we are asking Russia to protect the territorial integrity of Armenia on the basis of the existing 1987 (mutual defense) agreement between our countries,” Interfax news agency told Armenia. Security Council Secretary Armen Grigoryan was quoted as saying.
Russia has a military base in Armenia as well as a peacekeeping force in Nagorno-Karabakh. There was no immediate response from Russia on the Armenian appeal.
NS Azeri Defense Ministry said it had launched a military campaign to respond to the massive “provocation” from the Armenian side and in a statement blamed Armenia’s military-political leadership.
It said Armenian forces opened fire on Azeri army posts with artillery and mortar fire and that its own operation was successful.
“The Azerbaijan military has operational and tactical superiority,” it said in the same statement, adding that it had targeted Armenian troops and hardware at the border.
“Armenian soldiers are leaving their positions in fear and panic. Military equipment belonging to the opposing side has been destroyed.”
The fighting was the worst since last year’s 44-day war fought between ethnic Armenian forces and Azeri Army on the Nagorno-Karabakh enclave which killed at least 6,500 men and ended in a decisive victory for Azerbaijan.
The conflict ended after Russia mediated a peace deal and deployed about 2,000 peacekeepers to the region. Turkey sided with Azerbaijan, which regained the ground lost in the earlier conflict.
In a series of statements made by Armenian and Russian news agencies, the Armenian Defense Ministry said its troops had come under fire from Azeri artillery, small arms and armor.
It said 15 of its soldiers were killed, 12 were captured and two battlefields were lost near the border with Azerbaijan.
“Since Azerbaijan has invaded the sovereign territory of Armenia, we are asking Russia to protect the territorial integrity of Armenia on the basis of the existing 1987 (mutual defense) agreement between our countries,” Interfax news agency told Armenia. Security Council Secretary Armen Grigoryan was quoted as saying.
Russia has a military base in Armenia as well as a peacekeeping force in Nagorno-Karabakh. There was no immediate response from Russia on the Armenian appeal.
NS Azeri Defense Ministry said it had launched a military campaign to respond to the massive “provocation” from the Armenian side and in a statement blamed Armenia’s military-political leadership.
It said Armenian forces opened fire on Azeri army posts with artillery and mortar fire and that its own operation was successful.
“The Azerbaijan military has operational and tactical superiority,” it said in the same statement, adding that it had targeted Armenian troops and hardware at the border.
“Armenian soldiers are leaving their positions in fear and panic. Military equipment belonging to the opposing side has been destroyed.”
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