Dozens of soldiers and at least 11 civilians have been killed in a violent clash between Armenian and Azerbaijanian forces in the Nagorno-Karabakh region this week. The violence marks the latest development in a decades-long (and recently intensifying) dispute between Armenia and Azerbaijan. While the cause of the recently-renewed fighting (which began on Sunday) remains unclear, several nations (including the US and Russia) have called for an end to the violence.
More context: The conflict began in the late 1980s, when the ethnic Armenians who control the Nagorno-Karabakh region (which lies within Azerbaijan’s border) voted to become part of Armenia. That decision ultimately led to a war between the two nations that temporarily ended with a ceasefire in 1994.
