YEREVAN/BAKU–Armenia’s prime minister called on Monday for an international investigation into the presence of “foreign mercenaries” in Nagorno-Karabakh after ethnic Armenian forces said they had captured two mercenaries from Syria.
Azerbaijian has repeatedly denied the presence of foreign combatants in the conflict zone. Its defence ministry was not immediately available for comment.
However, media reports confirmed the presence of hundreds of foreign fighters on the battle front and warned hundreds others are preparing to join the conflict.
In early October, The Arab Weekly reported at least 36 pro-Turkey Syrian mercenaries had been killed in clashes between Armenian and Azerbaijani forces over Nagorno-Karabakh.
The killed fighters, according to The Arab Weekly, were among more than 850 militants and guns-for-hire from pro-Ankara Syrian factions which Turkey has sent to fight for the Azeris since late September.
In mid-October, the Wall Street Journal revealed hundreds of fighters from Syrian militias allied with Turkey had joined the fighting and hundreds more were preparing to go, according to two Syrian sources.
As news about the involvement of Turkey-backed foreign mercenaries continues to pour in, fierce battles are still raging near the front line of the conflict over the mountain enclave and seven surrounding regions in which more than 1,000 people, and possibly many more, have been killed since fighting erupted more than a month ago.
Nagorno-Karabakh is internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan but is populated and controlled by ethnic Armenians.
The conflict has brought into sharp focus the increased influence of Turkey, an ally of Azerbaijan, in a formerly Soviet region considered by Russia to be in its sphere of influence. Russia has a defence pact with Armenia.
Armenia’s foreign ministry said on Monday the Artsakh Defence Army, its name for the ethnic Armenian forces in Nagorno-Karabakh, had captured a second Syrian combatant over the weekend.
It said the fighter was from Syria’s Idlib province. Another fighter, from the city of Hama, was captured on Friday, it said.
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, in a Facebook post, said the involvement of “foreign mercenaries” was “a threat not only to the security of Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia but also to international security, and this issue should become a subject of international investigation.”
The ethnic Armenian-controlled, Nagorno-Karabakh defence ministry said battles took place overnight along the north-western part of the front line. It said it had repelled a platoon of Azeri troops in fierce fighting.
Azerbaijan’s defence ministry said it had repelled an attack on its positions in the high ground of the Zangilan district, between the enclave and the Iranian border, while army units in the Gazakh, Tovuz and Dashkesan regions also came under fire.
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev wrote on Twitter that Azerbaijan had retaken a further eight settlements in Zangilan, Gubadli and Jabrayil regions.
Azerbaijan’s advances on the battlefield since fighting began on September 27 have reduced its incentive to strike a lasting peace deal and complicated international efforts to broker a truce. Three ceasefires have failed to hold.
Nagorno-Karabakh’s army says 1,177 of its soldiers have been killed. Azerbaijan does not disclose its military casualties, while Russia has estimated as many as 5,000 deaths on both sides.