Karabakh gets Red Cross aid via two routes, in step to ease crisis

ArmInfo.Badly needed food and medicines were delivered to Azerbaijan's breakaway region of  Nagorno-Karabakh on Monday along two roads simultaneously, a step that could ease mounting tension between Azerbaijan and Armenia.

The International Committee of the Red Cross said it had sent trucks  via the Lachin corridor leading from Armenia into the mountain  enclave from the southwest, and the Aghdam road from Azerbaijani-  government held territory to the northeast. 

"We are extremely relieved that many people reliant on humanitarian  aid will finally receive much-needed support in the coming days,"  said Ariane Bauer, ICRC's regional director for Europe and Central  Asia.

"People are queuing hours for bread. They urgently need sustained  relief through regular humanitarian shipments," she said.

She said the deliveries had been made possible by agreement between  the rival authorities. 

Azerbaijan had virtually cut traffic from Armenia since December,  alleging it was being used to smuggle arms. That triggered food  shortages in Karabakh and aggravated tensions with Yerevan.

In a statement on Facebook, the Karabakh administration said around  23 tonnes of flour as well as medical and hygiene products had  arrived in the region.

Monday's delivery fulfilled the other side of an agreement between  Yerevan and Baku, but wider tensions remain.

Ariane Bauer, ICRC's regional director for Europe and Central Asia,  said she hoped the consensus over road access would enable  humanitarian convoys to resume "not just today but in the weeks to  come, so that we can regularly get aid to those who need it".

"We are extremely relieved that many people reliant on humanitarian  aid will finally receive much needed support in the coming days.  Health structures are lacking medical supplies. People are queuing  hours for bread. They urgently need sustained relief through regular  humanitarian shipments. This consensus has allowed our teams to  resume this life-saving work."

The ICRC said it has been in talks over the last weeks with  decision-makers about options to get aid into the area via different  routes, including both the Lachin Corridor and Aghdam road. Monday's  operation included two trucks which simultaneously delivered goods  via both the Lachin Corridor and Aghdam road.

"I hope that this consensus allows for our strictly humanitarian  convoys to resume not just today but in the weeks to come so that we  can regularly get aid to those who need it. Our aim is to reach those  most in need of assistance in line with our fundamental principles of  neutrality, impartiality, and independence," Ms Bauer said.