Per Armenian sources
91 troops killed (11 non-combat), 123 wounded
9 civilians killed, 6 wounded
14 tanks destroyed
Azerbaijani claim
320 soldiers killed, 500 wounded
30 tanks and armoured vehicles, 25 artillery pieces destroyed Per Azerbaijani sources
31–94 soldiers killed, 2 missing, 39 wounded
6 civilians killed, 26 wounded
1 Mi-24 helicopter and 1 drone lost
1 tank destroyed
Armenian claim
300–1,500 soldiers killed, 2,000–2,700 wounded
2 helicopters, 14 drones shot down
26 tanks, 4 IFVs, 1 AEV, 1 MRL destroyed Similar Nagorno‑Karabakh conflict, 2014 Armenian–Azerbaijani clashes, 2008 Mardakert skirmishes, Capture of Shusha, Armenian–Azerbaijani War |
The 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh clashes, sometimes referred to as the Four-Day War or April War, began along the Nagorno-Karabakh line of contact on April 1, with the Nagorno-Karabakh Defense Army, backed by the Armenian Armed Forces, on one side and the Azerbaijani Armed Forces on the other, in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh, with Azerbaijani forces seeking to regain control of territory controlled by the Armenia-backed unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR). The clashes have been defined as "the worst" since the 1994 ceasefire.
Contents
- Background
- Clashes
- Claims of atrocities and usage of prohibited munitions
- Transfer of bodies
- Casualty estimates
- Analysis
- Official statements
- Military awards
- Political harassment
- Supranational bodies
- OSCE Minsk Group and co chair countries
- Other states
- References
A ceasefire was reached on April 5, however, both sides accused each other of violations. Azerbaijan claimed to have regained 2,000 hectares of land, while Armenian officials suggested a loss of 800 hectares of land of no strategic importance.
The US State Department estimated that a total of 350 people—military and civilian—died. Official sources of the warring parties put those estimates either much higher or much lower, depending on the source.
Background
The Nagorno-Karabakh War ended with a ceasefire agreement between the warring parties that came into effect on May 12, 1994. However, since then Azerbaijan and Armenia have reported over 7,000 breaches of the ceasefire; more than 100 breaches of the ceasefire and 12 Azerbaijani soldiers had been killed in 2015 alone. The April 2016 clashes have been the most serious breach of the 1994 ceasefire to date.
Among the possible reasons behind the conflict escalation, Azerbaijan's worsening economy (due to the collapse of oil prices in 2015–16) has been frequently cited, with clashes being used as a way to distract the Azerbaijani population from rising prices and unemployment. Alternatively, some Armenian sources blame Turkey for provoking violence, while some Turkish commentators have suggested a Russian strategy to destabilize the region.
Clashes
Each side blamed the other for the outbreak of clashes around Aghdara, Tartar, Agdam, Khojavend, and Fuzuli. According to Armenian sources, on the night of 1 April and early morning of 2 April, the Azerbaijani side launched large-scale attacks along the contact line between Karabakh and Azerbaijan. On 2 April, a 12-year-old Armenian boy was killed as a result of missile artillery attack from a BM-21 Grad near the border with Martuni. Two other children were wounded as well. According to Azerbaijani sources, on 2 April, Azerbaijani positions and inhabited places near the front line came under fire from Armenian military, armed with mortars and high caliber grenade launchers, that killed and wounded several civilians. According to the Azerbaijani Ministry of Defense, during a rapid counter-offensive, the Armenian side's front defense line was broken in multiple places and several strategic heights and inhabited places were retaken (including the strategically important hill of Lalatapa). An AFP journalist confirmed that the Lalatapa heights were also under Azerbaijani control. The Azerbaijani side claimed that they had captured some areas, including heights near the village of Talysh, as well as the village of Seysulan. However, the Ministry of Defence of Nagorno-Karabakh says this claim is untrue. On 8 May the Armenia's First Channel release footage from military positions near Seysulan. 14,400 people living in villages were affected by clashes, but no internal displacement or immediate humanitarian need was reported. Armenian Defense Ministry spokesman Artsrun Hovhannisyan sharply accused Azerbaijan of "launching an unprovoked coordinated ground offensive against Armenia’s forces", saying the Azerbaijani military used warplanes, tanks and artillery to try to make inroads into Nagorno-Karabakh. During the first day of fighting, Armenian forces claimed to have destroyed at least three Azerbaijani tanks, two military helicopters (including an Mi-24G and at least one armed Mil Mi-8/17) and two unmanned drones, photographs and videos of which surfaced on the internet. Armenian frontline positions were reinforced, heavy artillery was brought forward, and in the NKR capital Stepanakert reservists were called up.
On 3 April, Armenian military authorities announced that NKR forces had recaptured positions around Talysh, which the Azerbaijani Ministry of Defense claimed was untrue. On 6 April, news footage shown on Armenia's First Channel revealed Armenian journalists and NKR troops freely mingling on the streets of Talysh and Madagiz. On 8 April, news footage shown on Azerbaijani TV channel showed Azerbaijan military placing a new sign at heights near Talysh. On 11 April, news footage from Armenia's First channel showed Talysh heights under NKR troops control near Tap Qaraqoyunlu. Again on 8 May, news footage from Civilnet showed the journalist Tatul Hakobyan with some NKR soldiers at Talysh heights near Naftalan. Later Defense Minister Zakir Hasanov stated that if shelling of Azerbaijani settlements by Armenian forces did not cease, Azerbaijan could consider launching artillery attacks on Stepanakert. On the same day, the Azerbaijani Ministry of Defense announced a unilateral end to hostilities. The Azerbaijani Ministry of Defense stated that should Armenian shelling pursue, Azerbaijan will continue its offensive.
On 4 April, Azerbaijani Ministry of Defense reported that an Armenian command and control center had been destroyed and released a video capturing the attack. The Azerbaijani Ministry of Defense claimed that along with numerous military personnel, two high-ranking Armenian officers were killed as a result. The three deceased Armenian lieutenant colonel, identified as Roman V. Poghosyan, Alexan G. Arakelyan, and Gregorian K. Onik, along with one unidentified colonel. The same day, the Armenian defense ministry announced that an Azerbaijani drone, identified as an Israeli-made IAI Harop, attacked a bus carrying Armenian volunteers enlisting in military service to the Nagorno-Karabakh town of Martakert by slamming itself against it, killing seven people aboard including the heads of two rural communities within the NKR. It is believed to be the first ever combat use of the drone anywhere. An Israeli-made ThunderB surveillance drone was shot down on April 2 according to the NK defense force. Armenian officials later protested Israel's supply of weaponry to Azerbaijan. Some Azerbaijani sources claimed that Mataghis was under Azerbaijani control, citing Azerbaijan Ministry of Defense but Armenian side says this is not true because they repelled an Azerbaijani offensive allegedly backed by Turkey. Later Armenian side published video to prove that Mataghis remain in their control.
On 5 April, Azerbaijani Ministry of Defense announced that the mutual ceasefire agreement was breached by Armenian forces which shelled Azerbaijani positions near Tap Qaraqoyunlu with 60, 82 and 120 mm mortars.
According to Azerbaijani claims Armenian Armed Forces directed high caliber artillery fire at a mosque (in Əhmədağalı, one civilian dead), schools (in Seydimli, one schoolboy injured) and residential buildings as well as civilian infrastructure. Damage to houses in Azerbaijan by Armenian artillery fire was reported in the Russian press. According to Azerbaijani claims on 7 April, Armenian armed forces shelled an ambulance evacuating injured Azerbaijani civilians. The Ministry of Defence of Nagorno-Karabakh published some aerial photos to prove that Azerbaijan deploys military units near populated areas and violated the Article 52 of Geneva Convention. During a BBC visit to Azerbaijan's side of frontline, a team of BBC journalists asked to see and ensure where the alleged military objects are placed but the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry refused for "safety reasons". On April 8, artillery fire was exchanged between Armenian and Azerbaijani forces, with the Armenians reporting two soldiers killed. A temporary ceasefire agreement mediated by the International Committee of the Red Cross and field assistants of the OSCE, allowed for both sides to collect dead and missing soldiers. On April 14, the Azerbaijani government reported that one of its soldiers had been killed by Armenian forces on the line of contact. On April 15, Nagorno-Karabakh reported one of its soldiers had been killed in action with Azerbaijani forces. A soldier of the Nagorno Karabakh military was reported killed in action with Azerbaijani forces on April 19. Further skirmishes occurred on April 21, killing another Nagorno-Karabakh soldier.
In the course of the clashes, mortar shells fired from the conflict area hit a village in the northwestern Iranian province of East Azerbaijan, but no casualties or damages were reported.
Claims of atrocities and usage of prohibited munitions
According to Armenian officials, residents of Talysh and Madagiz had been evacuated and provided with shelter in other parts of the region. Armenian and international reporters announced that after Talysh was retaken by Armenian troops, an elderly Armenian couple had been found shot in their home and their corpses had been mutilated. According to these reports, Azerbaijani soldiers also killed another elderly woman. Photographs of corpses with ears cut off revived memories of the atrocities of the 1988–1994 war observed a Le Monde reporter. According to the Russia's leading human rights lawyer, the head of the International Protection Centre Karinna Moskalenko, complaints about these facts of violence against the civilian population are already prepared to be sent to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). Azerbaijan's Ministry of Defense denied these reports.
On 4 April, it was reported that Azerbaijani forces decapitated the body of a Yazidi-Armenian soldier, Kyaram Sloyan, who had been killed in action, with videos and pictures of his severed head posted on social networks. According to The Sunday Times, it included "shocking souvenir photos of uniformed Azerbaijani soldiers posing with the severed head". Azerbaijani sources rejected this claim as false. On May 3 Azerbaijani Defense Ministry denied this information and claimed that all the bodies of the Armenian soldiers were handed over in the presence of international observers, and no traces of violence were detected on the bodies. Sloyan's body was buried without its head on April 5, 2016, in his native village of Artashavan. On April 8, through the mediation of the Red Cross, the Azerbaijani side returned Sloyan's head. Sloyan was interred for a second time the following day, to lay his head with his body. According to Regnum News Agency and KavNews Russian agency, during his visit to Terter, Agdam and Barda districts, President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev awarded the Azerbaijani soldier who had posed with the severed head of Sloyan. Armenian Deputy Foreign Minister Shavarsh Kocharyan condemned the encouragement of the Azerbaijani serviceman who was depicted on another photo where the mutilated head of Sloyan was manifestly shown.
On 8 April, Artak Beglaryan, a spokesperson for the NKR Prime Minister, posted a photo on his Twitter account showing the beheaded corpse of an Armenian soldier. He called the beheading in a Tweet a "barbaric act & Daesh/ISIS style war crime." According to the public report of the Human Right's defender (ombudsman) of NKR, "the facts of beheading Hayk Toroyan, Kyaram Sloyan, and Hrant Gharibyan by the Azerbaijani troops, as well as the torturing and mutilation of 18 NKR army members constitute grave breaches of customary international law". Azerbaijan's Ministry of Defense denied these reports.
Relatives of three Armenian soldiers killed and beheaded during the escalation filed a complaint against Azerbaijan to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). The plaintiffs demand to recognize the case of inhuman treatment with regard to the bodies, lack of respect for their privacy, and discrimination based on nationality.
In April 2016 the European Ombudsman Institute (EOI) issued a statement that condemns any violation of human rights regarding civilians and attacks on civilian objects in Nagorno-Karabakh. According to EOI, "civilian citizens of Nagorno-Karabakh were inhumanly treated without any respect and by that offended in their dignity". "We are concerned by the information received, that peaceful civilians were killed in the Nagorno-Karabakh settlements through partly cruel and inhuman methods of execution. All these operations constitute gross violations of human rights; they are opposed to European human rights and human values; they significantly endanger the European system for the protection and promotion of human rights".
Representatives of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) have stated their intentions to report the beheadings and other human rights violations allegedly conducted by Azerbaijan to the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights. The co-rapporteurs said: "We are going to submit a report to the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights on the fact of murdering and beheading of a conscript, and then publicizing it."
HALO Trust reported that Azerbaijan had dropped rocket-dispensed cluster bombs around civilian settlements in NKR.
On 17 May 2016 Azerbaijani Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that on 11 May the Armenian military had used 122-mm calibre white phosphorus munitions prohibited by the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons against Azerbaijani civilians and civilian objects. On 11 May military attaches from 13 countries reviewed the territory in the Askipara village where the white phosphorus munition had been fired. The usage of phosphorus munition by the Armenian military was also reported by Al Jazeera. Azerbaijani Military Prosecutor's Office initiated a criminal case upon the finding. However NKR foreign ministry and Armenia defense ministry says this is a falsification and distortion of the reality.
Transfer of bodies
On 10 April, the State Commission on Prisoners of War, Hostages and Missing Persons of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic said that of the 18 bodies of Armenian soldiers transferred that same day by Azerbaijan, all showed signs of torture or mutilation. The Commission called these acts "a flagrant manifestation of inhumanity, run counter to the laws and customs of war and are in grave violation of the international humanitarian law", adding that the Karabakh side will ensure that "such behavior of the Azerbaijani side is condemned in strongest terms by the international community and the specialized agencies". Azerbaijan's Ministry of Defense denied the accusations and claimed that the transferred bodies of Azerbaijani servicemen had been mutilated by the Armenian side. The NKR State Commission on Prisoners of War, Hostages and Missing Persons called this claim by Azerbaijan a cynical attempt to mislead the international community, observing that before the start of the exchange procedure, all the bodies of the dead soldiers had been examined in the presence of representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross, and no traces of abuse or ill-treatment had been discovered or registered on Azerbaijani soldiers.
Casualty estimates
According to the US State Department, Azerbaijan "took a huge number of casualties, including comparatively", although the number was not specified. Overall, a senior member of the US State Department estimated 350 casualties on both sides, including civilians. According to the Russian analytical center Ostkraft the Azerbaijan army stopped its offensive against Karabakh because 800 Azerbaijani soldiers died during the clashes.
Official estimates of the warring parties are far apart from each other. According to official statements of the involved sides, 90 Armenian and 31 Azerbaijani soldiers were killed during the clashes, and several pieces of military equipment from both sides were destroyed. Also according to official statements, ten civilians (6 Azerbaijani and 4 Armenian) were killed in the conflict.
Various non-official Azerbaijani sources, per research of social networks, put the actual number of Azerbaijani soldiers killed at 94, while two remain missing.
Analysis
In the aftermath, there was no conclusive assessment on the outcome of the clashes. Neil Melvin, director of the armed conflict and conflict management programme at the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, stated that "Azerbaijan suffered heavy losses for relatively minor territorial gains, this is nonetheless seen as a victory, after 25 years of a sense of having been defeated".
Several analysts noted that the clashes did not result in significant changes. Matthew Bodner wrote in The Moscow Times on April 6 that "the previous status quo has been more-or-less preserved." Independent Armenian journalist Tatul Hakobyan, who visited the fighting scene during the clashes, remarked that the death of scores of soldiers of both sides was "senseless" as no real change occurred. He stated: "Azerbaijan did not win and Armenia did not lose." Russian military expert Vladimir Yevseyev said that the Azerbaijani offensive, despite initial victory, was not a success because the Azerbaijani side has numerous killed soldiers and destroyed tanks.
The International Crisis Group assessment stated that Azerbaijan gained "small but strategically important pieces of land". Russian military analyst Pavel Felgenhauer believes that Azerbaijan "won the first round of fighting". Former minister of defense of Nagorno-Karabakh Samvel Babayan stated that the territories gained by Azerbaijan have strategic importance, and they were lost by Armenians within one hour. Karabakh and Armenia government rejected his criticism.
Chatham House fellow, Zaur Shiriyev, suggested that Azerbaijan prompted a "carefully controlled escalation [that] served to raise international awareness of the fragility of a status quo which Azerbaijan regards as unfavourable, in order to galvanize the international mediators and put pressure on Yerevan to be constructive at the negotiating table." British journalist Thomas de Waal, senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and author of Black Garden: Armenia and Azerbaijan Through Peace and War, does not believe that the Azerbaijani offensive was meant as a full-scale military operation but rather as a limited attempt to bring the conflict back on the international agenda and put Armenia under pressure. He believes that after the April violence, the conflict is unlikely to return to its semi-quiet state and that a new round of fighting would be harder to contain than previous conflicts.
Christine Philippe-Blumauer noted, "Russian official reactions suggest that Russian troops would not actually decide to intervene in favor of the Armenian side, should the conflict scale-up to a fully-fledged war yet again."
Official statements
Armenian Defense Ministry Spokesman Artsrun Hovhannisyan stated that the Azerbaijani attempted to take part of northern Karabakh with a "blitzkrieg", which failed. After a ceasefire was reached NKR Defense Army Colonel Victor Arustamyan said that one military position was left under Azerbaijani control, which was of no strategic significance.
On 24 April President Serzh Sargsyan acknowledged that Azerbaijani troops had taken very small pieces of land in the north and south of the contact line, which he said had no strategic importance for Armenian forces, who had not attempted to reclaim them to avoid additional loss of life. On May 17 Sargsyan stated that the Armenian side had lost control of "800 hectares of land having neither tactical not strategic importance",
On 26 April 2016 Sargsyan fired 3 senior Armenian army officials, including the chiefs of the Logistics, the Intelligence and the Communications Departments, a move which was apparently influenced by the public criticism of the high death toll among the Armenian soldiers.
President Sargsyan stated that Armenia would formally recognize the independence of Nagorno-Karabakh "if the military operations continue and acquire a large scale." On 5 May 2016 the Government of Armenia approved the bill on recognition of the independence of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (Artsakh). It was announced, that the recognition of the independence of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic is "due to the results of discussions between Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh, [and] considering further developments, including external factors."
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev initially claimed the clashes were a "great victory" for Azerbaijan.
Azerbaijani Ministry of Defense claimed that the Azerbaijani armed forces remain in control of strategic heights near the village of Talysh. Responding to Sargsyan's claim on the Armenian troops' loss of 800 ha of territory, Azerbaijani Ministry of Defense stated that the Azerbaijani military took control of 2000 hectares of territory. In the opinion of analyst Rizvan Huseynov, posted at the state oil company owned media CBC, "Nearly 5% of occupied territories returned" (nearly 57 290 hectares of territory)
Azerbaijani opposition websites say Azerbaijan long-serving chief of general staff Najmaddin Sadigov may be replaced over 4-day war by the First Corps Commander and deputy Nizami Osmanov, but this was refuted by the Ministry of Defense spokesman.
Military awards
A number of Armenian military servicemen were awarded by orders and medals of Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh Republic. Junior sergeant Robert Abajyan was posthumously awarded with Hero of Artsakh which is the highest honorary title of NKR. He became the youngest person ever to hold the title at 19 years old.
19 April 2016 Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev signed orders on awarding honorary titles, orders and medals to a group of Azerbaijani military servicemen. Among them Lieutenant Colonel Shukur Hamidov, Lieutenant Colonel Murad Mirzayev and Major Samid Imanov were awarded with the medal of National Hero of Azerbaijan. Colonel Mais Barkhudarov was awarded with the rank of general-major by the Azerbaijani President because of his personally participation in the military operation over Lalatapa height.
Political harassment
Ali Karimli, the leader of Azerbaijani Popular Front party, who criticized the Azerbaijani government over its actions during the clashes, became a subject of a series of protests (the latest one held on April 12 in front of Karimli’s house), organized by the authorities. The protesters also demanded to exile him from the country. According to the human rights lawyer Intigam Aliyev, attacks against Karimli are simply diverting attention from truly important issues and testing technologies to distract people’s justified anger caused by the serious consequences of wrong decisions.
Russian TV channel Dozhd reported that the Azerbaijani authorities launched a criminal case against the direction and journalists of the Azerbaijani independent channel Meydan TV because of the publication of the list of Azerbaijani soldiers killed during the clashes in Nagorno-Karabakh. Their list consisted of 94 names, while the Defense Ministry of Azerbaijan confirmed only 31 deaths. According to the Meydan TV chief editor Emin Milli, each person on their list really died in the clashes, and he stated that the Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan could not deny this information.