2020 bombardment of Martuni
The bombardment of Martuni () was the bombardment of the cities, towns, and villages in the Martuni Province of the self-proclaimed Republic of Artsakh (de jure as part of Azerbaijan). It was carried out by Azerbaijani Armed Forces during the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War. The city Martuni, along with the de facto capital Stepanakert, were badly damaged as a result of shelling. The shelling resulted in the deaths of civilians. 1,203 buildings were damaged in the province throughout the bombardment. Victoria Gevorgyan, a resident of the Martuni Province of Nagorno-Karabakh, became the first child killed  on the very first day of the war. Background. The clashes are part of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict over the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh with an ethnic Armenian majority. The region is a de jure part of Azerbaijan, but is de facto held by the self-proclaimed Republic of Artsakh, which is supported by Armenia. The region has been historically inhabited and governed by ethnic Armenians. In 1921, Stalin made Nagorno-Karabakh an autonomous region in Soviet Azerbaijan, against the will of its majority ethnic Armenian population. Ethnic violence began in the late 1980s, and exploded into a full  war following the dissolution of the USSR in 1991. The war ended with a ceasefire in 1994, with the Republic of Artsakh controlling most of the Nagorno-Karabakh region, as well as the surrounding districts of Agdam, Jabrayil, Fuzuli, Kalbajar, Qubadli, Lachin and Zangilan of Azerbaijan. Nagorno-Karabakh held an independence referendum in 1991, voting to secede from Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan did not recognize the independence of Nagorno-Karabakh and the war continued until the 1994 ceasefire. Timeline. The shelling of Martuni began on 27 September 2020, killing several locals, including a nine-year-old girl and an elderly woman. On  1 October 2020, the town of Martuni in Nagorno-Karabakh was subjected to artillery fire and bombardment by the Azerbaijani Armed Forces. As a result of the shelling Martuni, roofs of houses were broken, leaving piles of rubble and shattered glass. Some residents were sleeping in their houses among shards of broken glass. Azerbaijani Armed Forces began bombarding central streets and the local government headquarters with BM-21 Grad rocket launchers while a team of "Agence France-Presse" (AFP) journalists were talking to residents. Locals insisted that there were 40 explosions. There were no military forces and military structures located in  Martuni and there were no soldiers in the area. The shelling injured two French journalists from "Le Monde" newspaper and two Armenian journalists. President Emmanuel Macron said the French Foreign Ministry was working to organize the journalists’ repatriation “as quickly as possible.” "A medical plane is ready to leave. We are doing everything to stabilize the wounded on the spot before allowing their evacuation," Macron said. The town was also shelled by multiple rocket launcher TOS-1, which hit residential buildings. A Russian journalist with the independent "Dozhd TV" channel was reported to have safely reached a bomb shelter. Artak Beglaryan , Human Rights ombudsman in Artsakh, expressed suspicion that “Azerbaijan’s targeting of journalists is aimed at driving journalists out of the war zone, so that international journalists, in particular, will not be able to present the situation objectively.” Artsakh's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has stated that it has data which suggests that special Azerbaijani military units are ordered to follow and target reporters covering the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh. Azerbaijan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs denied that the country's military has targeted members of the press. On 12 October 2020 BBC journalists captured the destruction in Stepanakert and  Martuni as a result of shelling by the Azerbaijani Armed Forces. The shelling resulted in the deaths of civilians. On 13 October 2020, a BBC film crew visited Martuni. Local resident Armen Saghiyan said that the shelling of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces destroyed his house and his father died under the rubble. On 19 October 2020, the Ombudsman of the Republic of Artsakh stated on Monday that two days earlier in the city of Martuni, one civilian was killed and another was wounded under shelling. On 22 October 2020, the Armenian military report on stubborn battles in different parts of  the front and artillery shelling of the front-line city of Martuni and the surrounding area. On 23 October 2020, the authorities of the Republic of Artsakh claimed that the enemy fired on the cities of Martuni and Askeran on Thursday evening, at night and on Friday morning, as well as villages in the Martuni Province, including the large village Karmir Shuka. On 24 October 2020, the State Service of Emergency Situations of the Republic of Artsakh announced that the city of Martuni and the village of Taghavard were shelled. It was stated that the attack was carried out using  the Grad-Smerch systems. On 26 October 2020, at 07.00 Moscow time (06.00 local time) a new agreement on a humanitarian truce in the zone of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict entered into force. The parties promised this time to adhere to the ceasefire agreement, but in the first hours they exchanged accusations of violating the ceasefire. On the same day, Artsakh's representatives accused Azerbaijan of shelling Martuni. Residents of Martuni took refuge in shelters, the mayor's office said. The Karabakh Emergency Situations Service announced an air raid on the city, but the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry claimed that it  does not use military aviation and is observing the ceasefire. Representative of the Emergencies Ministry Hunan Tadevosyan told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent about the air strikes. "The enemy used military aviation against the city of Martuni," he said. The entire population of the city is in shelters, Martuni mayor's office noted. On 1 November 2020, the State Service for Emergency Situations of Artsakh stated that Azerbaijan is not complying with the Geneva agreements and continues shelling peaceful settlements. In addition to strikes against the cities of Martuni, Shushi and nearby settlements in Karabakh, military aviation is used. On 5  November 2020, the Artsakh State Service of Emergency Situations stated that Martuni has come under intense Azerbaijani shelling, being hit by heavy artillery, and targeted "the civilian population and the civilian infrastructure". Casualties. According to Head of Martuni regional administration of the Republic of Artsakh Edik Avanesyan, as of the beginning of October, 5 residents were killed and 10 residents were wounded in the city of Martuni. Infrastructure was also destroyed. More than 120 residential and administrative buildings in the town have been damaged, along with 40 cars. The drone strikes, along with artillery salvos, forced Avanesyan to order an  evacuation of most of Martuni's 6,200 residents, with most women and children seeking refuge outside the town while some of the men stay behind. Residents of Martuni were forced to hide in shelters. Reactions. Amnesty International. Following the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh ceasefire agreement, Amnesty International visited strike sites in Armenia, Artsakh and Azerbaijan. The organization interviewed 79 survivors, witnesses and relatives of civilians killed and injured in the strikes, in addition to local civilian and military authorities, NGO workers and journalists. Amnesty International's Crisis Response team analyzed fragments of munitions used in the attacks and examined videos, photographs , and satellite images taken during the conflict. Marie Struthers stated that “our research revealed a pattern of indiscriminate and disproportionate strikes by both sides that killed and harmed civilians and damaged civilian objects. Attacks were repeatedly carried out on civilian residential areas far from frontlines, and where there often did not appear to be any military targets in the vicinity”. In Martuni, on 27 September, 12 strikes in the space of four minutes included one that mortally wounded an eight-year-old girl, Victoria Gevorgyan, and left her two-year-old brother Artsvik badly injured and traumatized. Human Rights Watch . Human Rights Watch and Armenian authorities stated that at least nine medical facilities were damaged in Martuni and other districts of Nagorno-Karabakh during the conflict.