Anatol Lieven has a hilltop view of a savage but sometimes comic battle between Azerbaijani and Armenian forces in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh
Our position was an artillery spotter’s dream. From the top of the hill on which we were crouching, just west of the Azerbaijani village of Shelli and on the border of the disputed enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh, the battlefield lay before us. To the southwest, raging fires marked where Azerbaijani rockets had landed in the Armenian-held town of Askeran.
Between us and the town, a mile and a half away, oil storage tanks, miraculously intact, marked the furthest Armenian position. To the northwest, a cemetery on the edge of the Azerbaijani headquarters of Agdam marked the Azerbaijani line of control. The Karga river meanders in the valley in which the town lies.
From our observation post we suddenly saw a flight of Azerbaijani Grad rockets streaking from their truck-mounted multiple launchers in the valley. Exactly seven seconds later, they exploded in Askeran.
As we watched, the Azerbaijanis brought up one of their launchers from another position, fired two shots, and then opened up with a volley of 19 rockets. Their aim was not good, and many of the rockets landed on the sides of the mountain beyond the town.
However, a dozen red tongues of flame flared briefly all over the centre of the town, and for half a minute or so, Askeran must have felt close to hell. The Azerbaijanis cheered and yelled “Allah” as the rockets burst.
After the killings last week of Azerbaijani civilians from Khodjaly, a few miles away, a fierce spirit of revenge has possessed the Azerbaijanis. “If you get to Askeran don’t bother to film Armenian corpses,” an Azerbaijani journalist told us. “They are beasts, not men.
As yet, the Azerbaijani organisation and equipment fall far short of their war aims. Despite our superb observation post, not one of the Azerbaijani soldiers on the hill was
equipped with a pair of binoculars. In the valley, apart from the two rocket launchers, there were three 120mm cannon, one without a barrel and all seemingly short of ammunition. Azerbaijanis in an array of civilian vehicles, a police car, a garbage truck, and several buses watched alongside.
When the Armenians returned fire, which landed harmlessly on the opposite Continued on page 16, col 4 […]
Publication date 03/09/1992
Courtesy of Karabagh Truths platform
