Nagorno-Karabakh recognizes evacuation of residents to Armenia

1500 people have been evacuated from the border areas deep into Nagorno-Karabakh, the authorities report. People leave Nagorno-Karabakh only privately, and men of military age are not allowed to cross the border.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that according to Azerbaijan, since September 27, 12 people were killed and 35 others were wounded in shelling attacks of the Armenian troops on Azerbaijani villages and towns. Today, residents of the village of Ashagy Agdjakend and the town of Terter, shelled by the Armenian armed forces, have been wounded, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) of Azerbaijan reports. On September 28, Armenia also reported on the first civilian killed in a shelling attack of the Azerbaijani armed forces on Armenian villages in the Vardenis District. In Nagorno-Karabakh, according to the official information, nine residents were killed and more than 30 others were wounded.

The authorities of Nagorno-Karabakh are not engaged in the evacuation of the population to Armenia, reports Samvel Balayan, the chief of the press service for the operational headquarters under the government of Nagorno-Karabakh. "On the first day of the war, due to the efforts of the regional administrations, residents of the border villages and towns which were subjected to intensive shelling attacks from Azerbaijan were evacuated to safer places in Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh, – note of the 'Caucasian Knot'). And when people leave for Armenia, they leave by their own will only," Samvel Balayan said.

According to him, only children, women with small children, and elderly people were evacuated. Men participate in mobilization or stay in place to rebuild infrastructure. Young men are not allowed to leave Nagorno-Karabakh, Samvel Balayan notes.

Grigory Martirosyan, State Minister of Nagorno-Karabakh, the chief of the operational headquarters for rear issues, reported that 1500 people had been evacuated.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on September 30, 2020 at 06:25 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.