No less than 68 individuals have been killed and 105 extra are lacking after a robust blast at a gasoline depot in Nagorno-Karabakh, in keeping with Azerbaijani media.
The explosion occurred as individuals fleeing the disputed area to Armenia lined up for gasoline, separatist authorities mentioned.
Earlier, 20 individuals have been confirmed to have died. It isn’t instantly clear what precipitated the blast.
Lots of of others have been reportedly injured within the explosion which occurred close to the regional capital of Stepanakert on Monday.
Hundreds of ethnic Armenians are leaving the territory, saying they worry ethnic cleaning after the Azerbaijani army reclaimed management of it final week.
Lightning operation
The Azerbaijani army took management of the area in a 24-hour lightning operation final week, ending three a long time of separatist rule.
No less than 19,000 of the 120,000 resident ethnic Armenians have fled to Armenia to this point, Deputy Prime Minister Tigran Khachatryan was quoted by Russia’s TASS information company as saying. That quantities to roughly 16% of the inhabitants.
Armenia claims the mass exodus is because of a worry of reprisals – one thing strongly denied by Azerbaijan.
Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev has vowed to respect the rights of ethnic Armenians within the area and to revive provides after a 10-month blockade.
These lining up on the gasoline facility have been reportedly ready for fuel. It has been a shortage alongside fundamental meals and provides because the blockade, in keeping with Armenia.
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Thousands of ethnic Armenians flee Nagorno-Karabakh
Azerbaijan targets Nagorno-Karabakh in ‘anti-terrorist operation’
Some 13,500 ethnic Armenians have fled the territory to this point. Pic: AP
The US has referred to as on Azerbaijan to guard the rights of civilians.
“We’re calling on Azerbaijan to keep up the ceasefire and take concrete steps to guard the rights of civilians in Nagorno-Karabakh,” US Company for Worldwide Growth (USAID) chief Samantha Energy informed reporters in Armenia’s capital Yerevan.
“We have now heard very troubling reviews of violence towards civilians. On the identical time given the chaos right here and the trauma, the gathering of testimonies… of the individuals who have come throughout is one thing that’s simply starting,” Ms Energy mentioned.
The Azerbaijani offensive final week pressured separatist authorities to agree to put down weapons and begin talks on Nagorno-Karabakh’s “reintegration” into Azerbaijan.
Pic: AP
Two rounds of talks between Azerbaijani officers and separatist representatives have taken place to this point. The primary was mentioned to have targeted on humanitarian support and medical providers.
Nagorno-Karabakh got here below the management of ethnic Armenian forces, backed by the Armenian army, after a six-year warfare that resulted in 1994.
Azerbaijan retook elements of Nagorno-Karabakh again in 2020 and utterly reclaimed surrounding territory that it misplaced earlier.
Below a deal that ended the 2020 combating, Russia deployed a peacekeeping pressure to the area.