Armenians evacuating Azerbaijan-controlled region

Authorities on Sunday said roughly 120,000 residents are leaving the Nagorno-Karabakh region after Azerbaijani forces took control of the area. The residents say they fear persecution—specifically ethnic cleansing. Azerbaijan enforced a monthslong blockade on the region and then launched a lightning attack that killed dozens with artillery and drone strikes last week.

Why did Azerbaijani forces want control of the region? Authority over the area is a source of contention between Armenia and Azerbaijan. The vast majority of residents in the area are ethnic Armenians, but the international community recognizes the region as part of Azerbaijan. Rights groups allege that majority Muslim Azerbaijan has sought to persecute Christians in the Nagorno-Karabakh region.

Dig deeper: Listen to Onize Ohikere’s report on The World and Everything in It podcast about Azerbaijan’s blockade on Nagorno-Karabakh that left tens of thousands of Christians in the region without necessities.