The frozen conflict of Nagorno-Karabakh simmers out of the limelight of the global press but it doesn’t make it any less deadly. This week Armenian-backed separatists in the region said three of their soldiers were killed by Azeri forces along the Nagorno-Karabakh border.
The area is inside the territory of Azerbaijan but is controlled by rebels allied with Armenia. Nagorno-Karabakh’s self-declared defense ministry said Azeri forces had violated the ceasefire agreement and used anti-tank weapons against one of their block-posts, reported Reuters.
The Nagorno-Karabakh region is very important strategically. It sits near NATO member Turkey which has had its own stability problems as it morphs to an Islamic theocracy. The area is filled with energy infrastructure and Armenia is allied with Russia with Russian troops on its territory.
200 people were killed in a flare-up of violence last April.
