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Armenia stated on Wednesday that just about half of Nagorno-Karabakh’s inhabitants has fled the enclave since Azerbaijan crushed the rebels’ decades-long struggle for an impartial state final week.
Yerevan’s makes an attempt to soak up the ocean of homeless and hungry ethnic Armenians include officers nonetheless attempting to determine the whereabouts of greater than 100 individuals reported lacking in a gas depot blast Monday that claimed 68 lives.
The fireball erupted as refugees from Nagorno-Karabakh have been stocking up on gas for the lengthy drive alongside the lone mountain highway resulting in Armenia. The Armenian authorities stated greater than 53,000 individuals had left since Azerbaijan lifted its nine-month blockade on the enclave on Sunday.
A number of the households on the border stated that they have been urged to depart by the separatists.
The up to date refugee quantity accounts for practically half of the area’s 120,000 inhabitants and marks a basic shift in ethnic management of lands disputed by largely Christian Armenians and predominantly Muslim Azerbaijanis for the previous century. It additionally provides to the financial strains of Armenia — a landlocked Caucasus nation with few pure assets and rising professionalblems with longstanding ally Russia.
Azerbaijan stated on Wednesday it had detained a former separatist chief of Nagorno-Karabakh whereas he was attempting to enter Armenia.
The state border service stated Ruben Vardanyan, a businessman who headed the Armenian separatist authorities from November 2022 till February, had been handed to officers in Baku after being detained on the highway to Armenia.
It additionally launched {a photograph} of Vardanyan, who was born in 1968, being flanked by two safety officers, who have been holding him by the arms.
Azerbaijan has agreed to permit separatists who lay down their weapons to depart for Armenia beneath the phrases of a ceasefire deal reached final Wednesday.
However an Azerbaijani authorities supply stated that border guards have been additionally on the lookout for “battle crime” suspects who needed to face prosecution.
It was not instantly clear what expenses Vardanyan would possibly probably face. Vardanyan’s spouse, Veronika Zonabend, stated her husband was “arrested and detained by the Azerbaijani authorities on the border this morning as he tried to depart with hundreds of Armenians.” “I ask to your prayers and help for my husband’s secure launch,” she wrote her husband’s account on the X platform, previously referred to as Twitter.
The Armenian authorities stated it had ready dwelling preparations for 40,000 households after final week’s preventing broke out.
However Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s spokeswoman stated late on Tuesday that the federal government had up to now been capable of finding housing for simply 2,850 individuals.
“There are millions of (refugees) staying in Goris for the time being,” deputy mayor Irina Yolian.
“It’s unimaginable to provide the precise determine. They arrive and go every single day.” The looming humanitarian disaster poses a political drawback for Pashinyan.
The Purple Cross and the UN refugee company try to organise fast assist.
Baku’s forces have approached the outskirts of insurgent stronghold Stepanakert — however not but entered the emptying metropolis — after final week’s preventing claimed about 200 lives on all sides.
