News, reports, media on combat in Karabakh. October 12, 2020

Zohrab Mnatsakanyan is in Moscow on an official visit. The topic of the settlement of the Karabakh conflict became the main one during the negotiations with the Russian counterpart.

“Armenia was and remains the guarantor of the security of Nagorno-Karabakh, for which what is happening today is a matter of existence,” Zohrab Mnatsakanyan said during a joint briefing with his Russian counterpart.

Here are the main points of the minister’s speech:

• Armenia has been and remains the guarantor of the security of Nagorno-Karabakh,

• Azerbaijan’s genocidal policy is aimed at the destruction of civilian objects,

• Military actions must be stopped, and the role of Russia in this matter is extremely great,

• The involvement of Turkey in the conflict and the transfer of terrorist fighters from Syria to the region have aggravated the threat to the population of Karabakh.

• Summary of Armenian, Russian FMs talk in Moscow on Karabakh

Since the beginning of hostilities in Nagorno-Karabakh, on September 27, 41 civilians have died as a result of shelling of Azerbaijani settlements. 207 people were injured, the press service of the Prosecutor General’s Office of Azerbaijan reported.

148 civil objects, 1185 residential buildings and 57 apartment buildings have become unusable.

“The information of the Armenian side about the alleged concentration of a large force and the conduct of intense battles by the Azerbaijani army with the aim of entering Hadrut is outright disinformation.

We remind you that Hadrut was liberated from the occupation by the Azerbaijani army a few days ago.

The Azerbaijani army strictly observes the humanitarian ceasefire and does not carry out any active hostilities, ”the press service of the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry said.

Vahram Poghosyan reports that a large-scale operation continues in the Hadrut direction:
“The enemy, having concentrated numerous forces in this direction, is trying in every possible way to break into the city. The Defense Army is fighting hard battles for every inch of land.”

Defense Ministry spokeswoman Shushan Stepanyan stated that tensions on the contact line remained stable throughout the night. The Defense Army additionally reports that the attempts of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces to change the operational-tactical situation at night in their favor failed. In the morning [Azerbaijan] resumed shelling with the use of artillery, the fire was suppressed by adequate actions.

“At present, the Armenian armed forces are shelling the territories of the Goranboy, Terter and Aghdam regions,” reads the message of the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry marked ‘urgent’.

“The subdivisions of the Armenian armed forces, not observing the humanitarian ceasefire regime, made several attempts to attack the positions of the Azerbaijani army in small groups in the Agdera-Agdam and Fizuli-Jebrail directions in order to regain the lost positions.

At present, the troops of the Azerbaijani army have an operational advantage along the entire length of the front,” the press service of the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry said.

16th day since the beginning of the fighting in Karabakh.

• Despite the truce Armenia and Azerbaijan agreed to during talks in Moscow on October 10, residential areas on both sides of the frontline continued to be heavily shelled.

• The Armenian side reported attacks by the Azerbaijani forces on the southern direction of the frontline – near the border with Iran (the location of Fizuli and Jabrail, the districts abutting on Karabakh which have been under the control of the Karabakh authorities after the war in the 1990s).

• Nine people were killed, and over 40 others wounded after an Armenian rocket attack on the Azerbaijani city of Ganja, the press service of the Azerbaijani prosecutor’s office reported.

• Azerbaijan and Armenia argued over who has taken control of the city of Hadrut in Karabakh, with either side presenting its own ‘evidence’ that it has. In the evening of October 11, Armenia’s defense ministry released a video which it said its filming crew had made in Hadrut.

• The main aim of the truce was to allow the sides to swap prisoners and recover the war dead, however the process has yet to begin. The International Committee of the Red Cross in Armenia said it “can only start the humanitarian procedures after both sides have stopped shooting”.

• In his first big press conference since the hostilities started on September 27, president of Nagorno-Karabakh Arayik Harutyunyan called the developments “genocide against the people of Karabakh” and said Israel who supplied weapons to Azerbaijan was responsible for it as well as Azerbaijan itself and Turkey. “Artsakh will never be a part of Azerbaijan”, he said.

• The foreign ministers of Armenia and Russia are scheduled to meet in Moscow today, October 12.

• News, reports, photos / videos on military operations in Karabakh for October 11, 2020