Late Saturday night, there were high hopes in Nagorno-Karabakh when a new humanitarian ceasefire was announced. It didn’t last long, and by early morning Sunday, the truce had crumbled and both sides were blaming the other for it.
Both sides were quick to say the other side was firing artillery within hours of the ceasefire, calling it a gross violation. Both sides also retaliated, which fairly quickly made it clear the ceasefire wasn’t going to survive to mid-day.
The Defense Ministry of Nagorno-Karabakh said that so far on Sunday, they had confirmed 37 soldiers killed in attacks, bringing the death toll of the last three weeks of fighting to 710.
Nagorno-Karabakh’s Armenian-dominated forces are backed by the Armenian government, while facing attacks from Azerbaijan, who the international community views as having sovereignty over the region.
The two sides have been at odds over the enclave for decades, and when they do get into a fight over it, it tends to flare up quickly to a deadly conflict. In the past, Russia or other powers have been able to calm the situation down in short order, though in this case nothing has been sticking.
Seems more like they want the attention of a NATO power or two…
Although the tensions are real enough, the leaders may also be hoping to be bribed back into peace.
The COVID-19 global economic shut down has made all governments a little hard up for cash.