Hundreds of soldiers reportedly die in renewed fighting between Armenia and Azerbaijan

Armenia’s Armed Forces have suffered more than 550 casualties in renewed fighting in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, claims Azerbaijan’s military. Officials in Baku say their army also destroyed 22 Armenian tanks and other heavy armored vehicles, 15 “Osa” anti-aircraft missile systems, 18 drones, eight artillery installations, and three ammunition depots.

Armenian officials deny these reports. According to representatives of the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, fighting on the Armenian side of the conflict has killed just 31 people in the past two days. Armenian Defense Minister Artsrun Hovhannisyan claims the Azerbaijani Army has lost roughly 200 soldiers, as well as 30 tanks and 20 drones. Azerbaijani officials previously acknowledged five deaths and 19 injuries as a result of Armenian shelling.

What’s the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict? A military conflict in western Transcaucasia that began in the late 1980s, as the USSR collapsed, when the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region (an area home predominantly to ethnic Armenians) seceded from the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic. In 1994, Azerbaijan signed an armistice and ceasefire agreement with Armenia and the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic.

The conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan in Nagorno-Karabakh reignited on the morning of September 27. Both sides accuse the other of staging provocations and launching offensives along the so-called “line of contact.” Both nations have declared martial law in regions affected by the fighting.

According to the Armenian military’s press secretary, the fighting continued sporadically throughout the night between September 27 and 28. On Monday morning, the Azerbaijani reportedly resumed offensive operations using artillery and armored vehicles.