News, reports, photos / videos on military actions in Karabakh for October 3, 2020

Deputies of Armenia and Karabakh exchanged information on “military, political and diplomatic situations, leading to Turkish-Azerbaijani aggression”, speaking at a press conference of the National Assembly of Armenia.

“Today, the Azerbaijani army liberated from occupation the village of Talish, Terter region, the villages of Mehdili, Chakhyrly, Ashagi Maralyan, Sheybei and Guijag of the Jabrayil region and the village of Ashagi Abdurrahmanli, Fizuli region”, President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev wrote about this on Twitter.

Bu gün #Azərbaycan #Ordusu Tərtər rayon Talış kəndini, Cəbrayıl rayon Mehdili, Çaxırlı, Aşağı Maralyan, Şəybəy və Quycaq kəndlərini, Füzuli rayonu Aşağı Əbdürrəhmanlı kəndini azad etmişdir.#Qarabağ #Azərbaycandır!

— İlham Əliyev (@azpresident) October 3, 2020

Ilham Aliyev announced the renaming of the Madagiz settlement in the Agderin (Mardakert) region of Nagorno-Karabakh.

“From October 3, 2020, I am restoring the historical name of Madagiz. From this day it will be called Sugovushan. Karabakh is Azerbaijan, ”he tweeted.

2020-ci il oktyabrın 3-dən #Madagizin tarixi adını bərpa edirəm. Bundan sonra #Suqovuşan adlandırılır. #Qarabağ #Azərbaycandır!

— İlham Əliyev (@azpresident) October 3, 2020

The special services of Armenia published materials on the participation in the hostilities of the Turkish side and mercenariesThe National Security Service of Armenia has disseminated a video in which it presents a recording of negotiations between mercenaries from the Middle East fighting on the Azerbaijani side. Audio recordings are accompanied by captions in Armenian, Russian and English. In the same video, the facts available to the Armenian special services about the participation of the Turkish side in the hostilities are presented.

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev announced the final liberation from occupation of the village of Madagiz in the Agderin (Mardakert) region of Nagorno-Karabakh.

“Today the Azerbaijani army raised the flag of Azerbaijan in Madagiz. Madagiz is ours. Karabakh is Azerbaijan, ”the head of state wrote on Twitter.

Bu gün #Azərbaycan ordusu #Madagizdə Azərbaycan bayrağını qaldırdı. Madagiz bizimdir. #Qarabağ Azərbaycandır!

— İlham Əliyev (@azpresident) October 3, 2020

Minutes ago, Nikol Pashinyan spoke live. The main theses of his appeal to the people:
– The scale of the aggression of Azerbaijan and Turkey is unprecedented. According to experts, this has never happened in the 21st century
– For a week the Armenian people have been fighting against the aggressor
– Hundreds of tanks, military equipment, missiles, planes, UAVs attack Karabakh posts
– Turkey is participating in hostilities, the Turkish command is involved in the conduct of battles. Both mercenaries and militants from the Middle East are involved in the conflict
– There are many casualties among the military and civilians
– At the same time, the Azerbaijani army has not yet been able to solve any of the tasks assigned to it
– Azerbaijan has lost several thousand servicemen, everywhere on the line of contact are their corpses
– In some directions, the position of our troops is difficult, but the army is fighting heroically
– The aggressor came not only outside the territory, their goal is to destroy the people, to continue the Armenian genocide
– A few minutes ago the Karabakh Defense Army launched an offensive
– Each of the residents of Armenia and Karabakh must devote himself to the Victory.
“Each of us must be ready to be at the forefront of this victory. Victory, only victory and exclusively victory – this is what we expect in the end! ” – with these words, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan concluded his speech.

Despite the fighting on the front line in Nagorno-Karabakh, the capital of Azerbaijan lives its usual life. The only change is that there are a lot of state flags of Azerbaijan and Turkey on the streets.

Photo: Sevgi Ismailbeyli, JAMnews

“The world is still witnessing fierce attacks against Nagorno-Karabakh, Azerbaijan subjected its capital, Stepanakert, to rocket and artillery fire.
Nagorno-Karabakh is fighting against international terrorism. The Armenian people are in danger. It also threatens global peace and security. If this is not stopped today, this situation could arise elsewhere. Today our children are at gunpoint, tomorrow they may be yours, ” – the captain of the Armenian national team Henrikh Mkhitaryan wrote on his Facebook page, noting that the territory of Armenia was also under fire.

14 men, three women and two minors – 19 people have died in Azerbaijan since the beginning of the escalation of tensions on the front line in Nagorno-Karabakh, said the country’s Prosecutor General Kamran Aliyev.

Another 63 people were injured, he added.

The department explains its appeal by the need to ensure the rights of the citizens of Karabakh to life and peaceful development:

“Under the current conditions, the international recognition of Artsakh is the only effective mechanism for restoring peace and security in the region.”

The statement of the NK Foreign Ministry also says that

– Since September 27, 2020, the Azerbaijani Armed Forces, with the support of Turkey and terrorist organizations from the Middle East, have unleashed an aggressive war, – Azerbaijan’s large-scale armed attack is accompanied by serious violations of international humanitarian law.

“In particular, the Azerbaijani-Turkish armed formations are deliberately shelling cities, villages and civilian objects of Artsakh with the aim of terrorizing and destroying the civilian population. As a result of their criminal actions, there are numerous victims among civilians ”.

The Armenian Unified Information Center has published a video showing what Stepanakert looks like after the shelling.

A spokesman for the Armenian Defense Ministry reports on her Facebook page:
“The Artsakh Defense Army managed to suppress the large-scale attack of the enemy that began today. Our forces counterattacked in one direction. Heavy defensive battles are going on in other units.”

In an interview with Al Jazeera, the President of Azerbaijan outlined the condition for a ceasefire in Nagorno-Karabakh.

“Those who want to help Armenia, so to speak, its closest supporters, let them tell [the Armenians] to leave the territories, show their will, cease fire. Tell me that today, tomorrow or in a week I will leave Aghdam. And that next week I will leave Fizuli, and in another week Kelbajar, etc. Then we will stop. This is a very fair position. This position is not conducive to war, but to peace,” the president said.

Military expert Artsrun Hovhannisyan reported this. On his Facebook page, he posted a photo of the shell with captions in Turkish. The village of Kut is located in the Vardenis region of Armenia.

On September 29, official Yerevan already reported that Azerbaijan struck the Armenian Vardenis with a Turkish drone.

The Azerbaijani Armed Forces have switched to strikes with long-range missiles on civilian infrastructure, the destruction of which can lead to environmental disasters, military expert Artsrun Hovhannisyan wrote on Facebook.

On the morning of October 3, it became known that Azerbaijan launched missile strikes on Stepanakert.

“Baku violates all written and unwritten laws of war. The enemy is now using their entire arsenal – missile weapons, aviation, artillery. Fierce battles are going on practically along the entire perimeter,” said Suren Sarumyan, representative of the Karabakh Defense Army.

The Minsk Group Co-Chairs stress that the involvement of external parties in the escalation undermines efforts to achieve peace in the region. They call for “an immediate cessation of hostilities and the resumption of meaningful negotiations in good faith and without preconditions.”
The statement also says:
“The Co-Chairs strongly condemn the ongoing violence in the Karabakh conflict zone, as well as attacks against civilian targets in Armenia and Azerbaijan far from the contact line, and express concern over reports of an increase in the number of civilian casualties. Attacks or threats against civilians are not acceptable under any circumstances. ”

The situation at the front remains tense. During the night, the enemy’s combat activity in various directions of the front was suppressed and a crushing blow was inflicted on him, the press service of the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry said.

“Fierce fighting along the entire front continues,” the Defense Ministry noted.

Arayik Harutyunyan said that he was going to the front line together with the troops to defend the homeland:

“I will be more useful at the front than in the rear. This is a holy war.”

He called on everyone to immediately defend their homeland.

During the telephone conversation, the French leader expressed concern about the ongoing fighting on the front line in Nagorno-Karabakh, called for a truce and an early resumption of the negotiation process.

In response, Aliyev said that the settlements of Azerbaijan were under rocket fire, as a result of which 19 civilians were killed, more than 60 people were injured, and hundreds of houses were destroyed.

The Azerbaijani army is conducting a counter-offensive and has liberated part of its internationally recognized territory from occupation, Ilham Aliyev said. He also noted that we will disrupt the negotiation process, Armenia has dealt a tangible blow to the peace process of resolving the conflict. Aliyev blamed the Armenian side for the escalation of tensions on the line of contact.

The seventh day of military operations in Karabakh has begun.

• The total number of killed Armenian soldiers has risen to 156. The number of Azerbaijani soldiers killed is not reported. The only information remains the message of the Khazar center, published on September 27: 11 casualties among the military. Experts suggest that many military personnel have died, given the intensity of the fighting, which has been going on for the seventh day.

• Dozens of civilians killed on both sides.

• Azerbaijan stated that its army took control of the village of Madagiz in Karabakh.

• The Azerbaijani armed forces conducted a very heavy rocket attack on Stepanakert, the capital of Karabakh, all day on October 2. A lot of damage was done to buildings. Dozens of local residents were wounded (live photo report from Stepanakert on October 2).

• Armenia has imposed restrictions on travel to Karabakh – only humanitarian transportation is possible.

• Again there was mutual shelling of cities and villages on the territory of Armenia and Azerbaijan, and not only in Karabakh.

• The authorities of both countries reiterated that they hold each other fully responsible for the outbreak of hostilities.

• Both countries accuse each other of using detachments of foreign mercenary fighters, and each denies that foreign military is fighting on its side.

• International media published reports on the attraction of fighters from Turkey and Syria to Azerbaijan. This was also stated by the President of France.

• A telephone conversation took place between the Prime Minister of Armenia and the President of Russia, one of the main topics was “the participation of foreign fighters from the Middle East in the conflict.”

• The Turkish President reiterated his full support for Azerbaijan and said that “the struggle will continue until the liberation of Karabakh from occupation.”

• Azerbaijan demanded France’s exclusion from the OSCE Minsk Group. Armenia stated that Turkey should be excluded. The Minsk Group is the main facilitator of the negotiation process in the Karabakh conflict, the main members are Russia, France and the United States. Also in the group are Belarus, Germany, Italy, Sweden, Finland, Turkey, and Azerbaijan and Armenia themselves.

• News, reports, photos / videos on military operations in Karabakh for October 2, 2020

Since September 27, large-scale military operations have continued around Nagorno-Karabakh and on the border of Azerbaijan and Armenia. More than 150 people have been killed, both military servicemen and civilians among them. There are thousands of wounded.