Daily Times

Pakistan on Friday rejected “speculative and baseless” media reports claiming the Pakistan Army was fighting alongside Azerbaijani forces against Armenia in the breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh region.

“Such reports are irresponsible,” Foreign Office spokesman Zahid Hafeez Chaudri said in a statement.

Armenian and Azerbaijani forces are currently engaged in the heaviest fighting in years over Karabakh, an ethnic Armenian province that broke away from Azerbaijan in the 1990s during the collapse of the Soviet Union. The long-simmering conflict erupted on Sunday with both sides blaming each other for the outbreak of violence.

A report published by Times Now India and a few other media outlets this week claimed Prime Minister Imran Khan sent troops to the disputed territory to fight alongside the Turkish military and Azerbaijan army in Agdam. The report quoted a telephone conversation between two locals in the area who mentioned the presence of Pakistanis in the territory.

“On Agdam’s side, they have gathered Pakistani soldiers and have taken them towards Agdam,” the locals were heard telling each other, according to these media reports.

Reiterating Islamabad’s position on the issue, the FO spokesman said Pakistan was deeply concerned over the deteriorating security situation in the Nagorno-Karabakh region.

“The intensive shelling by Armenian forces on Azerbaijan’s civilian populations is reprehensible and most unfortunate. This could compromise the peace and security of the entire region. Armenia must stop its military action to avoid further escalation.”

Pakistan supports Azerbaijan’s position on Nagorno-Karabakh, which is in line with the several unanimously adopted United Nations Security Council resolutions, Chaudri said.

On Wednesday, Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev had thanked Pakistan, Turkey and Afghanistan for their support in the fighting against Armenian forces. Aliyev said Pakistan, Afghanistan and Turkey had all demonstrated support but added that Azerbaijan’s army did not need external help.

Meanwhile, the Azerbaijani Armed Forces on Friday seized a large amount of weapons, ammunition and vehicles belonging to the Armenian military in an operation to liberate its territory under occupation.

Armenian soldiers fled their positions in the face of the Azerbaijani advance, leaving behind their weapons and military vehicles.

Anadolu Agency journalists on the ground at the border region viewed some of the seized vehicles, ammunition and weapons.

Among the seized military vehicles were Russian-made 2019-model Ural trucks. While most of the trucks were still usable, some bore marks from the clashes. Most of the weapons and ammunition, including machine guns, grenades, rocket launchers and bullets of various firearms, were also Russian-made. The Azerbaijani forces also seized some documents belonging to the Armenian army.

Border clashes first broke out last Sunday when Armenian forces targeted Azerbaijani civilian settlements and military positions, leading to casualties.

Azerbaijan’s parliament declared a state of war in some of its cities and regions following Armenia’s border violations and attacks in occupied Upper Karabakh, also known as Nagorno-Karabakh. On Monday, Azerbaijan declared partial military mobilization amid the clashes.

Relations between the two former Soviet nations have been tense since 1991, when the Armenian military occupied Upper Karabakh, an internationally recognised territory of Azerbaijan.

Four UN Security Council and two UN General Assembly resolutions, as well as many international organizations, demand the withdrawal of the occupying forces. The OSCE Minsk Group — co-chaired by France, Russia and the US — was formed in 1992 to find a peaceful solution to the conflict, but to no avail. A cease-fire, however, was agreed upon in 1994.

France, Russia and NATO, among others, have urged an immediate halt to clashes in the occupied region.