Azerbaijan has introduced a brand new offensive within the breakaway area of Nagorno-Karabakh, a big escalation which might flip the simmering dispute into all-out struggle.

In a observation issued through the South Caucasus country’s protection ministry on Tuesday, officers mentioned they had been launching “native anti-terrorist actions” to “suppress large-scale provocations” within the ethnic-Armenian managed territory.

“As a part of the measures, positions at the entrance line and in-depth, long-term firing issues of the formations of Armenia’s military, in addition to battle property and armed forces amenities are incapacitated the use of high-precision guns,” the observation mentioned.

Air raid sirens were activated in Stepanakert, the de facto capital of the unrecognized state, native media reported.

Chatting with POLITICO, Hikmet Hajiyev, overseas coverage adviser to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, mentioned that the “function is to neutralize army infrastructure” and added that the native Armenian inhabitants have been despatched SMS messages caution them of the “counter-terrorism movements.”

“They have got been requested to stick with the exception of legit army goals,” Hajiyev mentioned.

Armenia and Azerbaijan fought a bloody struggle over Nagorno-Karabakh in 2020. A Russia-brokered cease-fire settlement has since collapsed, with Azerbaijani forces taking keep an eye on of the one street in or out — blockading humanitarian help and triggering warnings of “ethnic cleaning.”

This tale is being up to date.