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 – 10 November 2020 (1 month and 2 weeks)[10] Location Nagorno-Karabakh Result Azerbaijani victory[11][12] Territorial changes Azerbaijan gains control of 73% of disputed territory
Belligerents
Azerbaijan  Turkey (alleged by Armenia,[1][2][3] denied by Turkey[4]) Syrian mercenaries[a][8][9]	Artsakh  Armenia
Commanders and leaders
Ilham Aliyev Zakir Hasanov Karim Valiyev Hikmat Mirzayev[13] Mais Barkhudarov[14] Hikmat Hasanov[15] Kanan Seyidov Zaur Javanshir Elchin Guliyev[16] Ilham Mehdiyev Ramiz Tahirov Namig Islamzadeh	Arayik Harutyunyan Jalal Harutyunyan (WIA)[17] Mikael Arzumanyan[17] Karen Jalavyan Artur Sargsyan †[18] Hovhannes Avagyan  †[19] Nikol Pashinyan Armen Sarkissian Vahagn Asatryan  †[20] David Tonoyan Onik Gasparyan Tiran Khachatryan[21]
Units involved
Azerbaijan Azerbaijani Armed Forces Azerbaijani Land Forces 1st Corps[22] 2nd Corps[23] 3rd Corps[24] 4th Corps[24] Nakhchivan Garrison[24] Special Forces[25] Azerbaijani Navy Marine Infantry Battalion[26] Azerbaijani Air Forces[27] State Border Service[16] Ministry of Internal Affairs Internal Troops[28] Foreign Intelligence Service YARASA Special Forces [az; tr][29] Syrian mercenaries[31] Hamza Division[30] Sultan Murad Division[30]	Artsakh Artsakh Defence Army Armenia Armed Forces of Armenia National Security Service[32] Police of Armenia[33] Homeland Detachment[34] Erato Detachment[35]
Strength
14,272+ servicemen[36][37] 2,580+ Syrian fighters[38] Equipment: Various types of tanks and armoured vehicles including T-90, T-72, BMP-1, BMP-2, BMP-3 and BTR-82[31][39] Unknown number of Bayraktar TB2 combat drone[40][39] Unknown number of IAI Harop, Orbiter 1K and STM Kargu suicide drones[41][42][43] Unknown number of converted Antonov An-2 used as unmanned drone for different roles[44] Various MRLs including TRG-300 guided MRLs and BM-30 Smerches[45][39] Various anti-aircraft missiles including S-300s[46] Various artillery[47]	Unknown regular military Equipment: T-72 tanks and various types of armoured vehicles including BMP-1, BMP-2 and MT-LB[31][39] Scud-B and OTR-21 Tochka tactical ballistic missiles[39][48] Various MRLs including BM-30 Smerches, WM-80s and BM-21 Grads [49][39] Various anti-aircraft missiles including S-300s, Osas and Strela-10s[31][50] Various types of anti-tank guided missiles[31] Various artillery[47] Su-25 ground attack aircraft[46]
Casualties and losses
Per Azerbaijan: 2,906 servicemen killed[b] 6 servicemen missing[37] 11,110 servicemen wounded[53] 14 servicemen captured[54][55] Per SOHR: 541 Syrian mercenaries killed[38] 3+ Syrian mercenaries captured[56] See Casualties for details	Per Armenia/Artsakh: 3,825 servicemen killed[57] 187 servicemen missing[58] ~11,000 servicemen wounded and sick[59] 60+ servicemen captured[60] See Casualties and Prisoners of war for details
100 Azerbaijani[61] and 85 Armenian civilians killed[c] 21 Armenian civilians missing[58] 416 Azerbaijani[61] and 165 Armenian civilians injured[62][63] 3 Azerbaijani[64] and 40 Armenian civilians captured[65] 1 Russian Mi-24 shot down, 2 crew members killed, 1 injured[66] 1 Russian civilian killed[67] 2 French[68] and 3 Russian journalists injured[69] 1 Iranian civilian injured by stray fire[70] 40,000 Azerbaijanis (according to Azerbaijan)[71] and 100,000 Armenians displaced[72][73][74]

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^[75][76] 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.^[77] Turkey provided military support to Azerbaijan.^[75][78]

The war was marked by the deployment of drones, sensors, long-range heavy artillery^[79] and missile strikes, as well as by state propaganda and the use of official social media accounts in online information warfare.^[80] In particular, Azerbaijan's widespread use of drones was seen as crucial in determining the conflict's outcome.^[81] Numerous countries and the United Nations strongly condemned the fighting and called on both sides to de-escalate tensions and resume meaningful negotiations.^[82] Three ceasefires brokered by Russia, France, and the United States failed to stop the conflict.^[83]

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.^[84][85][86] 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.^[10] 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,^{[87][88][89][90]} leading to a case at the International Court of Justice.^[91]

The later 2023 Azerbaijani offensive in Nagorno-Karabakh would see the entirety of the disputed territory come under the control of Azerbaijan.

Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).