FO refutes reports claiming Pak Army fighting alongside Azerbaijan

ISLAMABAD: Foreign Office has refuted media reports claiming the Pakistani army fighting alongside Azerbaijani forces against Armenia.

“The reports are speculative and baseless”, Foreign Office Spokesperson Zahid Hafeez Chaudhri said while answering queries of the media.

Reiterating Pakistan’s position on the issue, he said Pakistan is deeply concerned about the deteriorating security situation in the Nagorno-Karabakh region.

The spokesperson said the intensive shelling by Armenian forces on civilian populations of Azerbaijan is reprehensible and most unfortunate. This could compromise the peace and security of the entire region.

He said Armenia must stop its military action to avoid further escalation.

The spokesperson said Pakistan supports Azerbaijan’s position on Nagorno-Karabakh, which is in line with the several unanimously adopted United Nations Security Council resolutions.

Dozens of people have been reported killed and hundreds wounded since Sunday in fighting that has renewed concern about stability in the South Caucasus, a corridor for pipelines carrying oil and gas to world markets.

Nagorno-Karabakh broke away from Azerbaijan in a 1991-94 war that killed 30,000 people, but is not recognised internationally as an independent republic.

Nagorno-Karabakh has said 103 of its servicemen have been killed and more than 200 wounded but has given no figures on civilian casualties.