The 1993 Summer Offensives of the First Nagorno-Karabakh War saw the capture of several

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of t ...

i regions by Armenian military units in a series of battles from June to October 1993.

Offensive

In the summer of 1993,

Agdam District Aghdam District ( az, Ağdam rayonu) is one of the 66 administrative divisions of Azerbaijan. It is located in the west of the country and belongs to the Karabakh Economic Region. The district borders the districts of Khojaly, Kalbajar, Tartar, ...

became a scene for exchange of artillery from both sides. On July 4, an artillery bombardment was commenced by the Armenian forces against the city of

Agdam Aghdam ( az, Ağdam) is a ghost town and the nominal capital of the Aghdam District of Azerbaijan. Founded in the 18th century, it was granted city status in 1828 and grew considerably during the Soviet period. Aghdam lies from Stepanakert at ...

. As the civilians began to evacuate the city, so did the soldiers. As house to house fighting took place, the Azerbaijanis made little effort to defend the town. Within the end of the month, the Armenian forces had taken hold of Aghdam, and an estimated 120,000 Azerbaijani civilians had fled the region. On July 29, the second

UNSC The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN) and is charged with ensuring international peace and security, recommending the admission of new UN members to the General Assembly, an ...

resolution, 853, was passed condemning the offensive and reaffirming the previous points it had made. Despite calls to halt their advances, the Armenian government stated that they had no control over the enclave's military leaders in order to call off the offensive. Facing a military collapse, Aliyev attempted to mediate with the ''

de facto ''De facto'' ( ; , "in fact") describes practices that exist in reality, whether or not they are officially recognized by laws or other formal norms. It is commonly used to refer to what happens in practice, in contrast with ''de jure'' ("by la ...

'' Nagorno-Karabakh government and Minsk Group officials. A three-day truce was agreed upon by both governments beginning on July 26. Within days, as a sight that had become all too familiar for both, the cease fire collapsed and both sides resumed their fighting. In mid-August, the Armenians massed a force to take Fuzuli and

Jabrayil Jabrayil ( az, Cəbrayıl, ) is a ghost city in Azerbaijan, nominally the administrative capital of Azerbaijan's Jabrayil District. A town with Azerbaijani majority and Armenian plurality at various times during the Russian imperial era, and Az ...

, south of

NKAO The Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast (NKAO), DQMV, hy, Լեռնային Ղարաբաղի Ինքնավար Մարզ, ԼՂԻՄ was an Autonomous oblasts of the Soviet Union, autonomous oblast within the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic th ...

proper, and within Azerbaijan's control. Azerbaijan charged that the Armenian forces had already begun bombarding the villages while the Armenians denied it, claiming that they were "defending the southern border of the enclave from the Azerbaijani attacks." In either case, the Armenian forces crossed south and advanced south towards the border of

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

towards Fuzuli. Supported by heavy armour, they pushed their way through the region as Iran's government issued several warnings on the new offensive but also said it would recommit itself to new peace talks. The region was populated by 30–50,000 Azerbaijanis, forcing many of them to flee and seek refuge in Iran. In August 23, Jabrayil had fallen.The New York Times Company
Caucasus City Falls to Armenian Forces
New York Times. August 24, 1993. pg. A7 It was followed by succesively Fuzuli in 25 August 1993, Qubadli in 31 August 1993 and Zangilan in 29 October 1993. Consequently,

Armenian-occupied territories surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh The Armenian-occupied territories surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh were areas of Azerbaijan, situated outside the former Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast (NKAO), which were occupied by the ethnic Armenian military forces of the breakaway Republi ...

were formed. Afghan Mujahideen from Hezb-e-Islami took part in the offensive on Azerbaijan's side.

References

{{Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict Summer Summer Battles involving Armenia Summer Battles involving the Republic of Artsakh First Nagorno-Karabakh War Conflicts in 1993 1993 in the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic