Part of the southbound 101 freeway was shut down by protesters Tuesday night in downtown Los Angeles after a violent day of escalating hostilities in the conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia.
Demonstrators blocked lanes on the southbound 101 freeway near the 110 freeway, with the nearest exit is Glendale Boulevard. Protesters waved Armenian flags as they halted traffic as the country continues to face conflict with Azerbaijan.
The California Highway Patrol (CHP) was on site, attempting to redirect traffic.
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The protests followed fighting Tuesday in Nagorno-Karabakh that local officials reported left scores of people, civilians and troops, dead and others wounded. Azerbaijan’s forces rained artillery fire on Armenian positions in the region.
Ethnic Armenian authorities in the Caucasus Mountains region urged Azerbaijan to sit down for talks, but Azerbaijan's presidential administration said what it described as an "anti-terrorist operation" will continue until what it described as "illegal Armenian military formations" surrender and the separatist government of Nagorno-Karabakh dismantles itself.
The reports raised concerns that a full-scale war in the region could resume between Azerbaijan and Armenia, which have faced off for more than three decades in a conflict over the mountainous territory. The most recent heavy fighting there occurred for six weeks in 2020.
Azerbaijan's Defense Ministry announced the start of the operation hours after it reported that four soldiers and two civilians died in land mine explosions in Nagorno-Karabakh. The ministry did not immediately give details but said front-line positions and military assets of Armenia's armed forces were being “incapacitated using high-precision weapons,” and that only legitimate military targets were attacked.
Armenia's Foreign Ministry, however, denied its weapons or troops were in Nagorno-Karabakh and called reported sabotage and land mines in the region “a lie." Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashiyan alleged that Azerbaijan's main goal is to draw Armenia into hostilities.
Ethnic Armenian officials in Nagorno-Karabakh said in a statement that the region's capital of Stepanakert and other villages were “under intense shelling.” The region's military said Azerbaijan was using aircraft, artillery and missile systems and drones in the fighting.
Video from the city showed a damaged residential building with shattered windows and damaged cars nearby.
The hostilities come amid high tensions between Armenia and its longtime ally Russia. Armenia has complained repeatedly that the 2,000-member Russian peacekeeping force was unable or unwilling to keep the road to Armenia open, even though that duty was stipulated in the agreement that ended the 2020 war.
Thousands of protesters gathered Tuesday in central Yerevan, the capital of Armenia, blocking streets and demanding that authorities defend Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh. Some clashed with police, who reportedly used stun grenades. A total of 34 people — 16 policemen and 18 civilians — were injured in the clashes, Armenia's Health Ministry said. About half of them continue to receive medical assistance, the ministry said.
Others rallied at the Russian Embassy, demanding action. The Russian state news agency Tass reported, citing an unidentified source in the diplomatic mission, that the building was blocked by protesters.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
