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An Armenian soldier observes the Azerbaijani positions from a shelter in Stepanakert
Photo: - / dpa
The conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the controversial Caucasus region Nagorno-Karabakh has flared up again for a good four weeks.
Three truces had recently failed and new negotiations to resolve the conflict are planned in Geneva on Friday.
Local authorities are now reporting the most violent attacks by Azerbaijani armed forces since the fighting began four weeks ago.
"Azerbaijan attacked Stepanakert for several hours," Nagorno-Karabakh Human Rights Ombudsman Artak Beglaryan told AFP on Thursday.
Civilians were also injured in the attacks, Beglaryan said.
These were the "heaviest" air strikes since the fighting began at the end of September.
The "enemy" at the gates
Stepanakert is the regional capital of the self-proclaimed Nagorno-Karabakh Republic.
According to Armenian sources, the cities of Shuschi and Martakert were also massively shot at.
Azerbaijan is committing "crimes against humanity," said the Armenian Foreign Ministry in Yerevan.
Regional President Arayik Harutyunyan addressed the population in a video distributed on Facebook that evening.
The "enemy" is only a few kilometers away from Shusha, "at most five kilometers," he said.
The aim of Azerbaijan is apparently to "take" the city.
Azerbaijan and Armenia have been claiming Nagorno-Karabakh for decades: Azerbaijan lost control of the area with around 145,000 inhabitants in a war after the collapse of the Soviet Union around 30 years ago.
A fragile ceasefire has existed since 1994.
The region is controlled by Armenia, but under international law belongs to the Islamic Azerbaijan, which can rely on its "brother state" Turkey in the conflict.
Russia is the protecting power of Armenia.
Observers fear that the current conflict could escalate into a proxy war between Russia and Turkey in the Caucasus.
Armenia receives killed soldiers from Azerbaijan
The situation had eased recently.
Before the negotiations scheduled for Friday, Azerbaijan handed over 30 killed soldiers and officers to Armenia.
The Azerbaijani presidential adviser Hikmet Hajiyev announced on Thursday.
The Armenian Ministry of Defense in the capital Yerevan confirmed the receipt of the dead and signaled its readiness to hand over soldiers who were also killed to Azerbaijan.
According to official figures from both parties to the conflict, more than 1200 people, including more than 130 civilians, have been killed since the fighting began in September.
In fact, the number of deaths is likely to be significantly higher.
Russian President Vladimir Putin had spoken of almost 5,000 dead in the fighting last week.
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mrc / dpa / AFP
