An official from the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region, on Wednesday, said that 50% of the population has been forced to flee amid bombing and fighting erupted last week between Armenian rebels and Azerbaijan.
“According to our preliminary estimates, some 50% of Karabakh’s population and 90% of women and children — some 70,000 to 75,000 people — have been displaced,” Karabakh rights ombudsman Artak Beglaryan told the AFP news agency.
The two sides have been in conflict for decades over the ethnically Armenian region of Azerbaijan, which broke away from Baku in the 1990s. The war then claimed at least 30,000 lives.
Shelling by Azerbaijan during the last week has reduced Karabakh’s main city into a ghost town, with many unexploded bombs in the streets.
Nearly 290 people have been killed since the most recent clashes erupted, including 47 civilians.
Fears are growing the conflict will develop into a full-blown war. Neighboring Iran warned against this on Wednesday.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said, “We must be attentive that the war between Armenia and Azerbaijan does not become a regional war.”
