Azerbaijan Says Four Civilians Killed In Anti-Tank Mine Blast In Newly Retaken Region

Four Azerbaijani civilians were killed on November 28 when their car triggered an anti-tank mine in a region that was taken by Azerbaijan during recent fighting with Armenian forces.

The Azerbaijani Prosecutor-General’s Office said the blast took place a village in the Fizuli region, one of the Nagorno-Karabakh settlements that Azerbaijan said earlier it had taken control of.

A statement issued by the Prosecutor-General’s Office said an investigation has been launched.

Neither Armenian nor Nagorno-Karabakh officials have commented.

Azerbaijan recaptured Fizuli in renewed clashes over Nagorno-Karabakh that started in late September and continued for six weeks.

A Moscow-brokered truce signed earlier this month ended weeks of heavy fighting. Under the agreement, Armenia is ceding control of parts of the enclave’s territory as well as seven surrounding districts of Azerbaijan it held since the 1990s.

The Armenian separatists are retaining control over most of Nagorno-Karabakh’s territory, and some 2,000 Russian peacekeepers have been deployed along frontline areas and to protect a land link connecting Karabakh with Armenia.

With reporting by RFE/RL’s Azerbaijani and Armenian services, AFP, and AP