2016 Nagorno-Karabakh conflict (apr 1, 2016 – apr 5, 2016)

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The 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, also known as the 4-Day War, April War, or April clashes, began along the former Nagorno-Karabakh line of contact on 1st April 2016 with the Artsakh Defence Army, backed by the Armenian Armed Forces, on one side and the Azerbaijani Armed Forces on the other.

The clashes occurred in a region that is disputed between the self-proclaimed Republic of Artsakh and the Republic of Azerbaijan. The region includes the former Soviet Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast and the surrounding districts of Azerbaijan under the control of Armenian forces at the time. Azerbaijan claimed to have started a military operation to prevent purported continuous Armenian shelling of civilian areas in Azerbaijan. However, there was no evidence of Armenian shelling. Until the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war, the clashes were the worst since the 1994 ceasefire agreement signed by Artsakh, Azerbaijan and Armenia.

A ceasefire was reached on 5th April between Azerbaijan and Armenia in Moscow. The Nagorno-Karabakh authorities also welcomed the oral agreement. After the agreement, both sides accused each other of violations. Azerbaijan claimed to have regained 20 square kilometres (7.7 square miles) of land, while Armenian officials suggested a loss of 8 square kilometres (3.1 square miles) of land of no strategic importance. However, the International Crisis Group reported that those heights were of strategic importance.

Officially, Baku reported the loss of 31 servicemen without publishing their names. Armenian sources claimed much higher numbers varying between 300 and 500. The Ministry of Defence of Armenia reported the names of 92 military and civilian casualties, in total. The US State Department estimated that a total of 350 people, both military and civilian, had died. Official sources of the warring parties put those estimates either much higher or much lower, depending on the source.

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