YEREVAN, APRIL 3, ARMENPRESS. Resumption of fights in Nagorno Karabakh is dangerous for the entire region. Thomas de Waal, international expert on the Caucasus and Nagorno Karabakh conflicts at Carnegie Endowment published an article on the recent escalation between Azerbaijani and Armenian armed forces, “Armenpress” reports.

“The Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict over Karabakh is not “frozen” as it is often misleadingly termed. The 1994 truce there has held due to the restraint and political calculation of the Armenian and Azerbaijani leaders, who have decided that it is not in their interests to go back to war with one another over the disputed territory,” De Waal said.

“In the last decade, Azerbaijan has used billions of dollars of its oil wealth to buy a formidable arsenal of new weapons, including helicopters, drones, MiG aircraft, and heavy artillery, many of them purchased from Russia. Armenia has also strengthened its defenses, also mainly with weapons acquired from Russia,” he noted.

“With all these heavy weapons, around 20,000 men on either side, and just six unarmed OSCE monitors in the conflict zone, the potential for a serious outbreak of fighting has never been greater,” American expert wrote.

At the same time the expert emphasizes that the Azerbaijani side has more reason to break the ceasefire. “Baku knows that one of its few tools of pressure on the Armenians is to violate the ceasefire and remind them that the status quo can be shaken,” the American expert noted.

Along the entire length of the contact line of Nagorno Karabakh- Azerbaijani opposing forces, on April 1 and throughout the morning of April 2, the adversary undertook large-scale offensive military actions, during which the adversary shelled with missile-artillery units not only Armenian defense positions, but also civilian settlements.

According to the data of the Defense Army, the Azerbaijani armed forces fired MM-21 (Grad) multiple rocket launcher on April 2, at 08: 30 in the direction of Martuni (NKR), killing 12 year old Vaghinak Grigoryan and wounding two other children.

During the military operations on April 1 and April 2, the Azerbaijani side sustained over 200 causalities.

Due to the timely and professional actions of the Nagorno Karabakh Defense Army, it was possible to take the situation under control, and also make the enemy suffer considerable losses. The Armenian side sustained 18 casualties and 35 wounded.

On April 3, starting from 06:00, the adversary continued aggressive military operations by using missile-artillery systems and armored vehicles.