DUSHANBE, April 4, 2016, Asia-Plus — At least 33 people were killed and more than 200 wounded between April 2-3 as a result of violence escalation in the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region, which lies inside Azerbaijan, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in a report.
The fighting mostly took place near the settlements of Agder, Martuni and Hadrut, home to a total of 14,400 people.
“Official sources from Armenia and Azerbaijan state that at least 30 soldiers and 3 civilians have died as a result of the fighting. The number of injured persons, both civilian and military, is yet to be confirmed by official sources. Unofficial sources estimated this number to be more than 200,” the report said.
On April 2, Armenia and Azerbaijan noted a sharp escalation of the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh, with both sides accusing each other of violating the ceasefire that has been in place since 1994.
The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is an ethnic conflict between the Republic of Armenia and Azerbaijan over the self-declared Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, a region in Azerbaijan populated primarily by ethnic Armenians. It has its origins in the early 20th century, although the present conflict began in 1988 and escalated into a full-scale war in the early 1990s. Tensions and border skirmishes have continued in the region despite an official cease-fire signed in 1994.
