How it Began

At approximately 1:00 a.m. on April 2, initial reports of Azerbaijani military deployments reached the political and military leadership of Nagorno Karabakh. At 2:30 a.m. Azerbaijani Special Forces surrounded the Armenian villages of Talish and Mataghis in the northeast of NKR. Armenian military officials began to evacuate civilians from Talish, Mataghis and Mardakert after learning of the evacuation of Azerbaijani villages near Terter. These Armenian villages are located 3-4 kilometers from the Contact Line. According to some estimates, about 5000 people were evacuated.

From this point on, the conflict spiraled out of control as peaceful settlements came under heavy fire and clashes erupted along the entire length of the LoC.

Official statements from both sides blamed the other for the outbreak of violence.

At approximately 8:30 a.m., an Azerbaijani grad strike near the town of Martuni killed 12-year-old Vagharshak Grigoryan and injured another two children.

On the same day (April 2), in the village of Talish, NKR, three members of the Khalapyan family were killed and mutilated by special Azerbaijani forces.

That same day, three Armenian servicemen were beheaded in the vicinity of Talish.

The hydro power plant in Mataghis which supplied electricity to the border settlements was hit by a missile, leading to a blackout in the district.

Eighteen Armenian servicemen were killed as Azerbaijani forces captured five posts near Lale Tepe. Their bodies remained under Azerbaijani control - when they were repatriated to Armenia through international mediation efforts, they had signs of torture and mutilation.

After mounting international pressure for a cessation in the hostilities, the sides signed a ceasefire on April 6 in Moscow.

The April fighting led to an activation of the peace process. The first meeting after the escalation took place in Vienna on May 16 with the participation of the Minsk Group Co-Chairs and the presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan. The next meeting took place in June in Saint Petersburg on June 20, with Russian mediation, in the presence of the Russian president Vladimir Putin.