Azerbaijani forces strike Armenian-controlled Karabakh

Azerbaijan said on Wednesday its military operation in Armenian-controlled Nagorno-Karabakh continued successfully after the U.S. called on it to halt hostilities and Moscow urged both sides to stop the bloodshed in the disputed region.
After months of rising tensions in the Armenian-controlled Nagorno-Karabakh in the South Caucasus, Azerbaijan this week sent troops backed by artillery strikes into the region in an attempt to bring the breakaway region to heel.
Azerbaijan’s defence ministry said in a statement on the Telegram messaging platform, the military measures “continue successfully,” with weaponry and military equipment destroyed.
The mountainous Karabakh is internationally recognised as Azerbaijani territory, but part of it is run by separatist Armenian authorities who say it is their ancestral homeland.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken held calls with both Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenia’s Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, urging Azerbaijan to “immediately cease military actions” and de-escalate the situation.