2023-09-26 09:36:57
At least 20 people died and another 290 were injured in the explosion that occurred last night in a fuel depot in the Nagorno Karabakh region, inhabited by Armenians but belonging to Azerbaijan, the official Armenian agency Armenpress reported today.
“Dozens of people who were injured due to the explosion They are in critical condition“said the agency, which stated that seven of the twenty fatalities died in the hospital.
The separatist government indicated in a statement that “13 unidentified bodies” had been found at the scene and that another 7 people had died in hospital.
Officially it was reported that “many people are considered missing because they were burned by the explosion and it is necessary to verify additional information about them.”
The damaged tank is located near the road that connects the regional capital, Stepanakert (Jankendi for Azerbaijanis) with the city of Askeran.
The Armenian Government announced the sending of medical teams and medicines to help the injured, almost all of them with burns of various degrees.
The Azerbaijani authorities assured that they will send medicines and enough medical supplies to care for about 200 wounded.
Officially it was reported that many people are considered missing because they were burned by the explosion. Photo Reuters.
Meanwhile, Armenia reported that Some 13,350 refugees from Nagorno Karabakh arrived in that countryalmost a week after an offensive by Azerbaijan that culminated in the capitulation of the separatists of that majority Armenian enclave.
“The government provides housing to all those who have nowhere to live,” officials said. In addition, they added that of the total evacuees, 11,000 have already been registered as such, but the registration continued.
This Sunday the authorities of the self-proclaimed republic of Nagorno-Karabakh announced that those citizens who were evacuated by the Azerbaijani military operation last week, left homeless and who were sheltered near the facilities of the Russian peacekeepers deployed in the territory since autumn 2020 they could be transferred to Armenia if they wished.
The rest of the citizens who wish to leave Nagorno Karabakh after Azerbaijan announces that it will reintegrate the area into its administrative scheme will be able to do so after the transfer of the displaced is completed, said the Information Center of the self-proclaimed republic.
What is Nagorno Karabakh, the disputed separatist enclave in the Caucasus
Nagorno Karabakh is at the center of a long conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan, which have fought two wars over this Caucasus enclave with an Armenian majority, but recognized as part of Azerbaijan.
Considered a central region of its history by Armenia, Nagorno Karabakh – meaning Mountainous Karabakh or Upper Karabakh in Russian – has changed hands many times over the centuries.
Although it has its own institutions and government, Nagorno-Karabakh is supported politically, economically and militarily by Armenia.
Tensions between Azerbaijan and Armenia resumed at the end of 2022, when the first of these countries installed checkpoints before blocking circulation in the Lachin corridor, the only road leading from Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia, causing serious shortages of food and medicine in the enclave.
Despite separate mediations by the European Union, the United States and Russia, Armenia and Azerbaijan were unable to reach an agreement on a peace agreement.
Last Tuesday, Azerbaijan launched “anti-terrorist operations” in Nagorno-Karabakh, following the death of four police officers and two Azerbaijani civilians due to mine explosions, and accused Armenian separatists of an act of “terrorism.”
The Armenian separatists of Nagorno Karabakh announced a day later that they were laying down their arms, within the framework of a negotiated truce.
With information from agencies.
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