Azerbaijan: Six people killed in landmine explosion in Karabakh, Azerbaijan blames Armenia

Six civilians were killed in landmines in Karabakh in Azerbaijan on Tuesday (September 19). Giving information, news agency Reuters has said that six of its citizens were killed by landmines in two separate incidents in the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan alleged that the landmines were planted by Armenian illegal armed groups.

Karabakh is internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan. A large Armenian population lives in Karabakh, a region that broke away from Baku's control following a war in the early 1990s. Azerbaijan recaptured land in and around Karabakh in the 2020 war. At the same time, Baku said that four employees of the Interior Ministry were killed. The accident resulted in the truck being blown up by a mine near a tunnel construction site.

At the same time, the statement further said that two civilians were killed in another landmine explosion. However, there was no immediate reaction from ethnic Armenian authorities in Karabakh. Armenia said on Monday that allegations that its own armed forces had laid mines on Azerbaijani territory are false.

As relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia continue to remain strained, this incident has further widened the gap between the two countries. Azerbaijan's Defense Ministry on Tuesday accused Armenian armed groups of intercepting the GPS navigation of a passenger jet flying from Tbilisi, Georgia to Baku.

Azerbaijan's allegations in Karabakh were vehemently rejected by the Armenians. Armenia's Foreign Ministry said on Monday that Azerbaijan's diplomatic stance seems as if it is preparing the ground for increasing military power. Both countries say they are committed to resolving their differences through a peace agreement.