The capital of the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic as a result of the aggravation of the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan, left about 39 thousand people, which is almost 70% of the population. Stepanakert Mayor David Sargsyan announced this in an interview with Sputnik Armenia.
According to him, in peacetime about 56 thousand people lived in Stepanakert, now there are 17 thousand left. All of them currently live in bomb shelters.
According to Sargsyan, those who left moved mainly to Armenia.
During the hostilities, the capital of the unrecognized republic came under rocket fire several times. So, on November 3, the State Service for Emergency Situations of Nagorno-Karabakh announced the shelling of Stepanakert from the Smerch missile system. According to the ministry, the missile was fired by the Azerbaijani military in the direction of the Mother and Baby Health Center. Also, the State Service informed about the shelling of residential areas of Stepanakert, which caused “significant damage” to residential buildings. Then it was reported about two victims.
The Azerbaijani Defense Ministry replied to the statement of the Karabakh authorities that Baku “does not fire on the civilian population and civilian infrastructure.”
Military actions in Nagorno-Karabakh between Armenia and Azerbaijan resumed on September 27. The parties have been arguing about the status of Karabakh for almost 30 years. Baku and Yerevan accuse each other of provocations, shelling of civilians and violation of ceasefire agreements.
