Nagorno Karabakh: Russia says Armenian fighters giving up arms

As some humanitarian aid reached the 120,000 Armenians living in the breakaway territory of Nagorno Karabakh — who claim that the world has abandoned them after Azerbaijan’s forces defeated their forces — Armenian militants there reportedly started to lay down their weapons.

On September 20, following a quick 24-hour military offensive by the much larger Azerbaijani military, the Armenians of Karabakh, which is accepted by the world community as being a part of Azerbaijan, were compelled to announce a ceasefire.

“The armed formations of Karabakh have begun handing over weapons and military equipment under the control of Russian peacekeepers,” said Russia, which has around 2,000 peacekeepers in Karabakh.

According to the Russian military ministry, the fighters have so far turned over six armoured vehicles, more than 800 guns, and over 5,000 rounds of ammunition.

Having sent more than 50 tonnes of food and other help, according to Russia.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) reported that it had provided blankets, gasoline, and 28,000 diapers. The first ICRC assistance convoy since Azerbaijan retook the territory arrived at the border late on Saturday afternoon, according to a Reuters witness.

Azerbaijan wants to integrate the long-disputed area, but the 120,000 ethnic Armenian residents of Karabakh say they fear persecution and have claimed that the rest of the world has abandoned them.

The Armenians in the territory are free to move to Armenia if they so want, according to Azerbaijan, which plans to provide amnesty to fighters in the Karabakh conflict who surrender up their weapons.

Tens of thousands of Armenians from Karabakh now have a place to live after Armenia lost a war to Azerbaijan over the area in 2020, while Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan says he doesn’t want them to leave their homes unless it is absolutely necessary.

Azerbaijan must be transparent in this circumstance, according to U.S. Senator Gary Peters, who led a legislative delegation to the Armenia-Azerbaijan border on Saturday.

“I think the world needs to know exactly what’s happening in there,” Peters, a Democrat from Michigan, told reporters. “We’ve heard from the Azerbaijani government that there’s nothing to see, nothing to worry about, but if that’s the case then we should allow international observers in to see.”

A view shows the Armenian border guard post next to the Azerbaijani border guard post on the road leading from Armenia to Azerbaijan’s Nagorno-Karabakh region, as seen from the outskirts of the village of Tegh, Armenia September 21, 2023. REUTERS/Irakli Gedenidze/File Photo Acquire Licensing Rights

“I think there needs to be some visibility,” he said.

After three of its troops were killed in what Baku claimed were strikes from the mountainous territory, Azerbaijan launched its “anti-terrorist” campaign against Nagorno-Karabakh on Tuesday.

The United States stated that “Azerbaijan’s military actions” gravely alarmed it.

The accounts of the violence were horrifying.

Armenian Armenui Karapetyan claimed to be homeless in Karabakh, clutching only a few belongings and a picture of his 24-year-old son, who passed away in 2020, after escaping from his house in the village of Kusapat.

Numerous Armenians from Karabakh have gathered in large numbers at the airport in hopes of finding Russian forces to defend them.

Gunfights broke out in the village of Arajadzor, according to Svetlana Alaverdyan, who claimed to have fled with nothing but the clothing on her back.

“They were shooting on the right, they were shooting on the left – we went out one after another, without taking clothes,” she told Armenia A1+.

“I had two sons – I gave them away, what else can I give? The superpowers resolve their issues at our expense.”

(With agency inputs)