A video shared from the clashes between Armenian and Azeri forces in the Nagorno-Karabakh region show Azerbaijani forces using an Israeli “LORA” missile to shell a bridge in Armenia, according to Channel 12 News.
Azerbaijan is currently fighting ethnic Armenian forces in the mountainous enclave after fighting broke out on Sunday between the two sides. The area is not recognized internationally as independent, and has been the subject of conflict since the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union.
A truck is seen in the video approaching a bridge on the Armenian side of the conflict zone when a missile suddenly strikes and levels the bridge.
LORA (LOng Range Attack) is a theater quasiballistic missile made by the Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI). It can be launched from a ship or by land. With an operational range of 400 km. (250 miles), it is accurate in hitting targets within ten meters, and striking within ten minutes after launch.
Azerbaijan was the first and only confirmed country to which Israel delivered LORA missiles – in an arms deal that took place in 2018.
Azerbaijan is a known ally of Israel, supplying The Jewish state with about 40% of its oil needs. The country is a longtime customer of an assortment of Israeli defense companies, buying drones, missiles and other advanced weapon systems.In 2016, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev revealed that his country signed $5 billion worth of long-term contracts over the years to buy weapons and security equipment from Israel.
Azerbaijan and Armenia – neighboring countries and former Soviet republics – have long been at odds over Azerbaijan’s breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh. The region is part of Azerbaijan but is run by its mostly ethnic Armenian inhabitants.
The latest fighting began around the Tavush region in northeastern Armenia, some 300 km. from the breakaway enclave. Some 11 civilians have reportedly been killed and at least 67 wounded in the fighting. The Azeri prosecutor’s office said 20 civilians have so far been killed and 55 wounded in Armenian shelling. Azerbaijan has not reported on casualties among its military forces.
The fighting is more serious than at any time since the war in the 1990s, in which 30,000 people were killed, and has deepened concern about stability in the South Caucasus, a region where pipelines carry Azeri oil and gas to world markets.The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) called for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire to enable the repatriation of the remains of fallen servicemen.
Armenia said on Friday that it would work with Russia, the United States and France on renewing a ceasefire, as the death toll rose on the sixth day of fighting in the South Caucasus.
Azerbaijan has not responded to a call for a ceasefire as of Thursday by the three countries, co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, which is mediating the crisis.
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