By Ramesh Bhan
New Delhi, Oct 3 (UNI) Heavy fighting between Christian dominated Armenia and a predominantly Muslim Azerbaijan entered its sixth day on Saturday with an unspecified number of people killed and wounded on both sides as the conflict threatens to snowball and destabilize the entire Caucasus region of Eurasia.
With foreign players coming in, the crisis is feared to worsen. While Pakistan and Turkey are openly supporting Azerbaijan, Russia and some European nations are on the side or Armenia.
Armenian news reports claimed that Pakistan had deployed its army to the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh to fight Armenia alongside Azerbaijani troops. The Armenian media, said ‘’they have gathered Pakistani soldiers and have taken them towards Agdam.” Both countries are accusing each other of bombing civilian areas resulting in huge number of casualties.
Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev thanked Pakistan government for supporting his country in the armed conflict, confirming reports of Pakistan’s involvement in the bloody fighting.
That demolishes Pakistan’s denials and claims describing the reports of Pakistan’s involvement as ‘’irresponsible, baseless and speculative.’’ Pakistan Foreign office spokesman Zahid Hafeez Chaudhary had on Friday dismissed such reports as ‘’irresponsible.’’
Armenia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Avet Adonts said on Friday that he couldn’t exclude the possibility of Pakistani fighters on the ground in the fight along with mercenaries operating in Azerbaijan. ‘’It won’t be a surprise for us,’’ he said.
Further confirming Pakistan’s involvement in the conflict, Azerbaijan President lauded Pakistan’s efforts for proclaiming support for his country against ‘’Armenian aggression’’. He thanked Pakistan and Turkey for principally standing with Azerbaijan.
“A meaningful support coming from brotherly countries is crucial for Azerbaijan to defend itself and fight against Armenia globally,” he said during a meeting with Pakistan Ambassador to Azerbaijan Bilal Hayee.
‘’We will never forget” the support of Pakistan and Turkey, he added.
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