Second Nagorno-Karabakh War

Second Nagorno-Karabakh War
Part of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict
Areas captured by Azerbaijan during the war   Areas ceded to Azerbaijan under the ceasefire agreement   Areas in Nagorno-Karabakh proper remaining under the control of Artsakh   Lachin corridor and Dadivank monastery, patrolled by Russian peacekeepers
Date 27 September 2020 (2020-09-27) – 10 November 2020 (2020-11-10) (1 month and 2 weeks)[16] Location Nagorno-Karabakh Result Azerbaijani victory[17][18] Territorial changes Azerbaijan gains control of 73% of disputed territory
Belligerents
Azerbaijan Syrian mercenaries[a][4][5][6][7][8]  Turkey (alleged by Armenia)[9][10][11]	Artsakh  Armenia Armenian diaspora volunteers[12][13][14][15]
Commanders and leaders
Ilham Aliyev Zakir Hasanov Karim Valiyev Hikmat Mirzayev[19] Mais Barkhudarov[20] Hikmat Hasanov[21] Kanan Seyidov Zaur Javanshir Elchin Guliyev[22] Ilham Mehdiyev Ramiz Tahirov Namig Islamzadeh	Arayik Harutyunyan Jalal Harutyunyan (WIA)[23] Mikael Arzumanyan[23] Karen Jalavyan Artur Sargsyan †[24] Hovhannes Avagyan  †[25] Nikol Pashinyan Armen Sarkissian Vahagn Asatryan  †[26] David Tonoyan Onik Gasparyan Tiran Khachatryan[27]
Units involved
Azerbaijan Azerbaijani Armed Forces Azerbaijani Land Forces 1st Corps[28] 2nd Corps[29] 3rd Corps[30] 4th Corps[30] Nakhchivan Garrison[30] Special Forces[31] Azerbaijani Navy Marine Infantry Battalion[32] Azerbaijani Air Forces[33] State Border Service[22] Ministry of Internal Affairs Internal Troops[34] Foreign Intelligence Service YARASA Special Forces [az; tr][35] Syrian mercenaries[37] Hamza Division[36] Sultan Murad Division[36]	Artsakh Artsakh Defence Army Armenia Armed Forces of Armenia National Security Service[38] Police of Armenia[39] Homeland Detachment[40] Erato Detachment[41]
Strength
14,272+ servicemen[42][43] 2,580+ Syrian fighters[44] Equipment: Various types of tanks and armoured vehicles including T-90, T-72, BMP-1, BMP-2, BMP-3 and BTR-82[37][45] Unknown number of Bayraktar TB2 combat drone[46][45] Unknown number of IAI Harop, Orbiter 1K and STM Kargu suicide drones[47][48][49] Unknown number of converted Antonov An-2 used as unmanned drone for different roles[50] Various MRLs including TRG-300 guided MRLs and BM-30 Smerches[51][45] Various anti-aircraft missiles including S-300s[52] Various artillery[53]	Unknown regular military Equipment: T-72 tanks and various types of armoured vehicles including BMP-1, BMP-2 and MT-LB[37][45] Scud-B and OTR-21 Tochka tactical ballistic missiles[45][54] Various MRLs including BM-30 Smerches, WM-80s and BM-21 Grads [55][45] Various anti-aircraft missiles including S-300s, Osas and Strela-10s[37][56] Various types of anti-tank guided missiles[37] Various artillery[53] Su-25 ground attack aircraft[52]
Casualties and losses
Per Azerbaijan: 2,906 servicemen killed[b] 6 servicemen missing[43] 11,110 servicemen wounded[59] 14 servicemen captured[60][61] Per SOHR: 541 Syrian mercenaries killed[44] 3+ Syrian mercenaries captured[62] See Casualties for details	Per Armenia/Artsakh: 3,825 servicemen killed[63] 187 servicemen missing[64] ~11,000 servicemen wounded and sick[65] 60+ servicemen captured[66] See Casualties and Prisoners of war for details
100 Azerbaijani[67] and 85 Armenian civilians killed[c] 21 Armenian civilians missing[64] 416 Azerbaijani[67] and 165 Armenian civilians injured[68][69] 3 Azerbaijani[70] and 40 Armenian civilians captured[71] 1 Russian Mi-24 shot down, 2 crew members killed, 1 injured[72] 1 Russian civilian killed[73] 2 French[74] and 3 Russian journalists injured[75] 1 Iranian civilian injured by stray fire[76] 40,000 Azerbaijanis (according to Azerbaijan)[77] and 100,000 Armenians displaced[78][79][80]

The Second Nagorno-Karabakh War was an armed conflict in 2020 that took place in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding occupied territories. It was a major escalation of an unresolved conflict over the region, involving Azerbaijan, Armenia and the self-declared Armenian breakaway state of Artsakh.^[d] The war lasted for 44 days and resulted in Azerbaijani victory, with the defeat igniting anti-government protests in Armenia. Post-war skirmishes continued in the region, including substantial clashes in 2022.

Fighting began on the morning of 27 September, with an Azerbaijani offensive^[81][82] along the line of contact established in the aftermath of the First Nagorno-Karabakh War (1988–1994). Clashes were particularly intense in the less mountainous districts of southern Nagorno-Karabakh.^[83] Turkey provided military support to Azerbaijan.^[81][84]

The war was marked by the deployment of drones, sensors, long-range heavy artillery^[85] and missile strikes, as well as by state propaganda and the use of official social media accounts in online information warfare.^[86] In particular, Azerbaijan's widespread use of drones was seen as crucial in determining the conflict's outcome.^[87] Numerous countries and the United Nations strongly condemned the fighting and called on both sides to de-escalate tensions and resume meaningful negotiations.^[88] Three ceasefires brokered by Russia, France, and the United States failed to stop the conflict.^[89]

Following the capture of Shusha, the second-largest city in Nagorno-Karabakh, a ceasefire agreement was signed, ending all hostilities in the area from 10 November 2020.^[90][91][92] The agreement resulted in a major shift regarding the control of the territories in Nagorno-Karabakh and the areas surrounding it. Approximately 2,000 Russian soldiers were deployed as peacekeeping forces along the Lachin corridor connecting Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh, with a mandate of at least five years.^[16] Following the end of the war, an unconfirmed number of Armenian prisoners of war were held captive in Azerbaijan, with reports of mistreatment and charges filed against them,^{[93][94][95][96]} leading to a case at the International Court of Justice.^[97]

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