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First group of refugees from Karabakh enters Armenia
The first group of Nagorno-Karabakh refugees since Azerbaijan’s lighting assault against the separatist region entered Armenia on Sunday, an AFP team at the border said.
The group of a few dozen people passed by Azerbaijani border guards before entering the Armenian village of Kornidzor, where they were registered by officials from Armenia’s foreign ministry.
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The group was primarily comprised of women, children and the elderly.
Some told AFP that they came from the border-area village of Eghtsahogh, while other said they travelled longer distances.
One man said that he had been part of the separatist resistance until Azerbaijan’s offensive forced the rebels on Wednesday to sue for peace and agree to disarm.
“Our families were in shelters,” the man, who was in his 30s and came from the village of Mets Shen but did not give his name, told AFP.
“Yesterday, we had to put down our rifles. So we left,” he said.
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