U.S. Intelligence chief warns of Nagorno Karabakh escalation

PanARMENIAN.Net - Azerbaijan’s current economic woes caused by falling oil prices may have heightened the risk of a further escalation of violence in the Nagorno Karabakh conflict, a top U.S. intelligence official said Tuesday, February 9.

“Baku’s sustained military buildup coupled with declining economic conditions in Azerbaijan, are raising the potential that the conflict will escalate in 2016,” Director of National Intelligence James Clapper noted in his annual Worldwide Threat Assessment of the U.S. Intelligence Community.

“Azerbaijan’s aversion to publicly relinquishing its claim to Nagorno Karabakh and Armenia’s reluctance to give up territory it controls will continue to complicate a peaceful resolution,” Clapper added.

Azerbaijani armed forces fired around 700 shots from various caliber weapons in ceasefire violations on the night of February 9-10, the Nagorno Karabakh Defense Army says.

Karabakh’s troops continue controlling the situation on the contact line and protecting their positions.