Siege of Stepanakert

Siege of Stepanakert
	Part of The First Nagorno-Karabakh War
	; Gagik Avsharyan's restored T-72 tank commemorating the capture of Shusha and the lifting of the siege of Stepanakert
Date	November 1991 – May 9, 1992
Location	Stepanakert; Azerbaijan (de jure); Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (de facto)39°48′55″N 46°45′7″E / 39.81528°N 46.75194°E
Result	Armenian victory Siege lifted by Armenian forces after the Battle of Shusha;
Belligerents
Nagorno-Karabakh; Armenia	Azerbaijan; Supported By; Turkey
Casualties and losses
169 civilian deaths in Karabakh (October 1991 – April 1992; according to NKR Interior Minister as quoted by Human Rights Watch)	Unknown

The siege of Stepanakert started in late 1991, during the First Nagorno-Karabakh War, in Stepanakert, the largest city in Nagorno-Karabakh, when the Azerbaijani forces circled the city. Until May 1992, the city and its Armenian population were the target of a months-long campaign of bombardment by Azerbaijan.^[5] The bombardment of Stepanakert and adjacent Armenian towns and villages, which took place under the conditions of total blockade by Azerbaijan, caused widespread destruction and many civilian deaths.^[6]^[7]

Human Rights Watch reported that the main bases used by Azerbaijani Armed Forces for the bombardment of Stepanakert included the towns of Khojaly and Shusha. Azerbaijani forces used weapons such as the BM-21 Grad multiple-launch rocket systems. The indiscriminate shelling, sniper shooting and aerial attacks killed or maimed hundreds of civilians and destroyed homes, hospitals and other buildings that were not legitimate military targets, and generally terrorized the civilian population.^[8] As a result of the offensive launched by Azerbaijan on Nagorno-Karabakh, more than 40,000 people became refugees and dozens of villages were burnt and ruined.^[9]

According to Memorial Human Rights Center, the residential areas of both Stepanakert and Shusha were shelled on a regular basis with the use of artillery and rocket launchers. There were more destruction and casualties in Stepanakert than in Shusha, which could be explained by location of Stepanakert in the lowland and much higher intensity of shelling from Shusha due to Azerbaijan's capture of Soviet depots in Aghdam and other locales with more than 11,000 wagons full of rockets, including those for BM-21 MLRS.^[10]^[11]

The siege of the city stopped only after the capture of Shusha by Armenian forces on May 8–9, 1992.^[1]^[12]

^ ^a ^b Cite error: The named reference chicagotribune was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Taylor & Francis (2004). The Europa World Yearbook 2004 (45th ed.). London: Europa. pp. 554–555. ISBN 9781857432541.
^ Eastern Europe, Russia and Central Asia (3rd ed.). London: Europa Publications Limited. 2002. p. 130. ISBN 9781857431377.
^ Denber, Rachel (July 1993). Bloodshed in the Caucasus: Indiscriminate Bombing and Shelling by Azerbaijani Forces in Nagorno Karabakh (PDF). Human Rights Watch/Helsinki. pp. 11, 5.
^ Human Rights and Democratization in the Newly Independent States of the Former Soviet Union, Volume 4; Volume 85. United States Congress Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe. 1993. p. 125.
^ The Daily Telegraph, "Azeri jets bomb capital of enclave" – August 23, 1992
^ Bloodshed in the Caucasus: Escalation of the Armed Conflict in Nagorno Karabakh. Human Rights Watch, 1992. ISBN 1-56432-081-2, 9781564320810, p. 32
^ "Human Rights Watch World Report – The Former Soviet Union". Human Rights Watch. Archived from the original on 2015-02-18. Retrieved 2016-12-04.
^ Cite error: The named reference helsinki watch= was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ "Report of Memorial Human rights center (In Russian)". Archived from the original on 2014-06-22. Retrieved 2012-03-28.
^ Группа Российских Войск в Закавказье (ГРВЗ Archived 2010-06-13 at the Wayback Machine
^ Irredentism: ethnic conflict and international politics By Thomas Ambrosio – page 148

[chicagotribune-1] Cite error: The named reference chicagotribune was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[Europa_World_yearbook_2004-2] Taylor & Francis (2004). The Europa World Yearbook 2004 (45th ed.). London: Europa. pp. 554–555. ISBN 9781857432541.

[3] Eastern Europe, Russia and Central Asia (3rd ed.). London: Europa Publications Limited. 2002. p. 130. ISBN 9781857431377.

[4] Denber, Rachel (July 1993). Bloodshed in the Caucasus: Indiscriminate Bombing and Shelling by Azerbaijani Forces in Nagorno Karabakh (PDF). Human Rights Watch/Helsinki. pp. 11, 5.

[5] Human Rights and Democratization in the Newly Independent States of the Former Soviet Union, Volume 4; Volume 85. United States Congress Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe. 1993. p. 125.

[6] The Daily Telegraph, "Azeri jets bomb capital of enclave" – August 23, 1992

[7] Bloodshed in the Caucasus: Escalation of the Armed Conflict in Nagorno Karabakh. Human Rights Watch, 1992. ISBN 1-56432-081-2, 9781564320810, p. 32

[8] "Human Rights Watch World Report – The Former Soviet Union". Human Rights Watch. Archived from the original on 2015-02-18. Retrieved 2016-12-04.

[helsinki_watch=-9] Cite error: The named reference helsinki watch= was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[memo.ru-10] "Report of Memorial Human rights center (In Russian)". Archived from the original on 2014-06-22. Retrieved 2012-03-28.

[11] Группа Российских Войск в Закавказье (ГРВЗ Archived 2010-06-13 at the Wayback Machine

[12] Irredentism: ethnic conflict and international politics By Thomas Ambrosio – page 148

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