After 18 years if cease-fire, Azerbaijan has finally launched a major ground offensive in an attempt to sieze control of Nagorno-Karabakh, with a full-scale operation in the central sector of the Line of Contact (LoC) at Agdam as their initial objective.

The battle for Agdam is about to begin...

The Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, a de facto independent, but unrecognized state established on the basis of the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast within the Azerbaijan SSR of the Soviet Union. The territory is internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, although it has not exercised power over most of the region since 1991. Since the end of the Nagorno-Karabakh War in 1994, representatives of the governments of Armenia and Azerbaijan have been holding peace talks mediated by the OSCE Minsk Group on the region's disputed status.

The peace talks ended on the when Azerbaijan armoured columns poured out of the staging areas and hit the Azerbaijan/Nagorna Karabakh line of contact. Baku had gone to war!

With the limited window of opportunity Azerbaijan expect to have before a ceasefire is demanded by the international community, a full-scale operation in the central sector of the Line of Contact (LoC) at Agdam was the main emphasis of their operation planning. The occupation of Agdam would overshadow the heavy loss of men and equipment that might result, and allow Azerbaijan to claim a public relations victory. From Agdam, their forces would attempt to push toward the settlement of Askeran. At the same time a secondary operation to the south would have Fizuli as its immediate objective. If successful, this operation would attempt to reach the settlements of Hadrut and Martuni. The objective would be to “stretch” the front from Askeran in the north through Martuni to Hadrut. This would put Karabakh’s core area (Stepanakert-Shushi) in a vulnerable position. But the Azerbaijan ground forces were facing a well-prepared and determined Karabakh defense force.

The battle for Agdam is about to begin...

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