Second Nagorno-Karabakh War
| Second Nagorno-Karabakh War | |||||||||
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| Part of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict | |||||||||
 Areas captured by Azerbaijan during the war
Areas ceded to Azerbaijan under the ceasefire agreement
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| Belligerents | |||||||||
 Azerbaijan Turkey (alleged by Armenia)[1][2][3] Syrian mercenaries[a][7][8] |
 Artsakh Armenia | ||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
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| Units involved | |||||||||
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Azerbaijan
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Artsakh | ||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
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Per Azerbaijan:
Per SOHR: See Casualties for details |
Per Armenia/Artsakh:
See Casualties and Prisoners of war for details | ||||||||
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The Second Nagorno-Karabakh War was an armed conflict in 2020 that took place in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding occupied territories. It was a major escalation of an unresolved conflict over the region, involving Azerbaijan, Armenia and the self-declared Armenian breakaway state of Artsakh.[e] The war lasted for 44 days and resulted in Azerbaijani victory, with the defeat igniting anti-government protests in Armenia. Post-war skirmishes continued in the region, including substantial clashes in 2022.
Fighting began on the morning of 27 September, with an Azerbaijani offensive[60][61] along the line of contact established in the aftermath of the First Nagorno-Karabakh War (1988–1994). Clashes were particularly intense in the less mountainous districts of southern Nagorno-Karabakh.[62] Turkey provided military support to Azerbaijan.[60][63]
The war was marked by the deployment of drones, sensors, long-range heavy artillery[64] and missile strikes, as well as by state propaganda and the use of official social media accounts in online information warfare.[65] In particular, Azerbaijan's widespread use of drones was seen as crucial in determining the conflict's outcome.[66] Numerous countries and the United Nations strongly condemned the fighting and called on both sides to de-escalate tensions and resume meaningful negotiations.[67] Three ceasefires brokered by Russia, France, and the United States failed to stop the conflict.[68]
Following the capture of Shusha, the second-largest city in Nagorno-Karabakh, a ceasefire agreement was signed, ending all hostilities in the area from 10 November 2020.[69][70][71] The agreement resulted in a major shift regarding the control of the territories in Nagorno-Karabakh and the areas surrounding it. Approximately 2,000 Russian soldiers were deployed as peacekeeping forces along the Lachin corridor connecting Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh, with a mandate of at least five years.[9] Following the end of the war, an unconfirmed number of Armenian prisoners of war were held captive in Azerbaijan, with reports of mistreatment and charges filed against them,[72][73][74][75] leading to a case at the International Court of Justice.[76]
The later 2023 Azerbaijani offensive in Nagorno-Karabakh would see the entirety of the disputed territory come under the control of Azerbaijan.
Naming
The war has been referred to as the "Second Nagorno-Karabakh War",[77][78] and has also been called the "44-Day War" in both Armenia and Azerbaijan.[79][80]
In Armenia and Artsakh, it has been called the "Second Artsakh War" (Armenian: Արցախյան երկրորդ պատերազմ, romanized: Arts'akhyan yerkrord paterazm),[81][82] "Patriotic War"[83] and the "Fight for Survival" (Armenian: Գոյամարտ, romanized: Goyamart).[84]
In Azerbaijan, it has been called the "Second Karabakh War" (Azerbaijani: İkinci Qarabağ müharibəsi)[85] and "Patriotic War".[86][87] The Azerbaijani government referred to it as an "operation for peace enforcement"[88] and "counter-offensive operation".[89] It later announced it had initiated military operations under the code-name "Operation Iron Fist" (Azerbaijani: Dəmir Yumruq əməliyyatı).[90]
Background
The territorial ownership of Nagorno-Karabakh is fiercely contested between Armenians and Azerbaijanis. The current conflict has its roots in events following World War I and today the region is de jure part of Azerbaijan, although large parts were de facto held by the internationally unrecognised Republic of Artsakh, which is supported by Armenia.[91]
Soviet era
During the Soviet era, the predominantly Armenian-populated region was governed as an autonomous oblast within the Azerbaijan SSR.[92] As the Soviet Union began to disintegrate during the late 1980s the question of Nagorno-Karabakh's status re-emerged, and on 20 February 1988 the parliament of the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast passed a resolution requesting transfer of the oblast from the Azerbaijan SSR to the Armenian SSR. Azerbaijan rejected the request several times,[93] and ethnic violence began shortly thereafter with a series of pogroms between 1988 and 1990 against Armenians in Sumgait, Ganja and Baku,[94][95][96][97] and against Azerbaijanis in Gugark and Stepanakert.[98][99][100][101] Following the revocation of Nagorno-Karabakh's autonomous status, an independence referendum was held in the region on 10 December 1991. The referendum was boycotted by the Azerbaijani population, which then constituted around 22.8% of the region's population; 99.8% of participants voted in favour. In early 1992, following the Soviet Union's collapse, the region descended into outright war.[93][dead link]
First Nagorno-Karabakh War
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The First Nagorno-Karabakh War resulted in the displacement of approximately 725,000 Azerbaijanis and 300,000–500,000 Armenians from both Azerbaijan and Armenia.[102] The 1994 Bishkek Protocol brought the fighting to an end and resulted in significant Armenian territorial gains: in addition to controlling most of Nagorno-Karabakh, the Republic of Artsakh also occupied the surrounding Azerbaijani-populated districts of Agdam, Jabrayil, Fuzuli, Kalbajar, Qubadli, Lachin and Zangilan.[103] The terms of the Bishkek agreement produced a frozen conflict,[104] and long-standing international mediation attempts to create a peace process were initiated by the OSCE Minsk Group in 1994, with the interrupted Madrid Principles being the most recent iteration prior to the 2020 war.[105][106] The United Nations Security Council adopted four resolutions in 1993 calling for the withdrawal of "occupying forces" from the territories surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh,[107] and in 2008 the General Assembly adopted a resolution demanding the immediate withdrawal of Armenian occupying forces,[108] although the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, Russia, France and USA, voted against it.[109]
Frozen conflict
For three decades multiple violations of the ceasefire occurred, the most serious being the four-day 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.[110] Surveys indicated that the inhabitants of Nagorno-Karabakh did not want to be part of Azerbaijan[111] and in 2020 the Armenian prime minister Nikol Pashinyan announced plans to make Shusha, a city of historical and cultural significance to both Armenians and Azerbaijanis,[94] Artsakh's new capital. In August of the same year the government of Artsakh moved the country's parliament to Shusha, escalating tensions between Armenia and Azerbaijan.[112] Further skirmishes occurred on the border between the two countries in July 2020.[110] Thousands of Azerbaijanis rallied for war against Armenia in response, and Turkey voiced its firm support for Azerbaijan.[113] On 29 July 2020, Azerbaijan conducted a series of military exercises that lasted from 29 July to 10 August 2020,[114] followed by further exercises in early September with the involvement of Turkey.[115] Prior to the resumption of hostilities, allegations emerged that Turkey had facilitated the transfer of hundreds of Syrian National Army members from the Hamza Division to Azerbaijan.[116] Baku denied the involvement of foreign fighters.[117]
Course of the war
Overview
The conflict was characterised by the widespread use of combat drones, particularly by Azerbaijan,[118] as well as heavy artillery barrages, rocket attacks and trench warfare.[119] Throughout the campaign, Azerbaijan relied heavily on drone strikes against Armenian/Artsakh forces, inflicting heavy losses upon Armenian tanks, artillery, air defence systems and military personnel, although some Azerbaijani drones were shot down.[120][121] It also featured the deployment of cluster munitions, which are banned by the majority of the international community but not by Armenia or Azerbaijan.[122] Both Armenia[123] and Azerbaijan[124] used cluster munitions against civilian areas outside of the conflict zone.[125] A series of missile attacks on Ganja, Azerbaijan inflicted mass civilian casualties, as did artillery strikes on Stepanakert, Artsakh's capital.[126] Much of Stepanakert's population fled during the course of the fighting.[127] The conflict was accompanied by coordinated attempts to spread misleading content and disinformation via social media and the internet.[128]
The conflict began with an Azerbaijani ground offensive that included armoured formations, supported by artillery and drones, including loitering munitions. Armenian and Artsakh troops were forced back from their first line of defence in Artsakh's southeast and northern regions, but inflicted significant losses on Azerbaijani armoured formations with anti-tank guided missiles and artillery, destroying dozens of vehicles. Azerbaijan made heavy use of drones in strikes against Armenian air defences, taking out 13 short-range surface-to-air missile systems. Azerbaijani forces used drones to systematically isolate and destroy Armenian/Artsakh positions. Reconnaissance drones would locate a military position on the front lines and the placement of reserve forces, after which the position would be shelled along with roads and bridges that could potentially be used by the reserves to reach the position. After the Armenian/Artsakh position had been extensively shelled and cut off from reinforcement, the Azerbaijanis would move in superior forces to overwhelm it. This tactic was repeatedly used to gradually overrun Armenian and Artsakh positions.[129] Azerbaijani troops managed to make limited gains in the south in the first three days of the conflict. For the next three days, both sides largely exchanged fire from fixed positions. In the north, Armenian/Artsakh forces counterattacked, managing to retake some ground. Their largest counterattack took place on the fourth day, but incurred heavy losses when their armour and artillery units were exposed to Azerbaijani attack drones, loitering munitions, and reconnaissance drones spotting for Azerbaijani artillery as they manoeuvred in the open.[22]