Satellite image shows damage of Azeri phosphorus use in Karabakh

PanARMENIAN.Net - Emerging open-source satellite imagery from the last week of fighting in Nagorno-Karabakh shows the environmental destruction resulting from Azerbaijan’s reported use of white phosphorus munitions on forests in Nagorno-Karabakh, the Atlantic Council’s Digital Forensic Research Lab reports.

In early November, videos showing banned white phosphorus munitions on Armenian-controlled areas in Karabakh started appearing on Twitter and other social media outlets.

Satellite imagery confirms that large areas of forest in Armenian-controlled territory showed extensive fire damage at the same time as the videos alleging Azerbaijan’s phosphorous munitions use appeared.

The targeting of forested areas is a strategy sometimes used to flush combatants from an area or to inflict high-collateral environmental destruction.

Some videos were filmed by Armenian soldiers as the reported white phosphorus munitions were falling on their defensive positions.

To confirm use of white phosphorus based solely on visual open-source evidence is difficult, as its visible signatures often match those of other chemicals used in incendiary munitions. The DFRLab has previously reported on phosphorous use in other conflicts, however, particularly in Syria, and the munitions seen in videos of the incident in Nagorno-Karabakh closely resemble other cases of likely use the DFRLab has studied.

"This open-source evidence suggests that Azerbaijan used extreme and indiscriminate tactics against Armenian forces, causing high-collateral damage to the environment," the DFRLab said.

Armenia's Human Rights Defender Arman Tatoyan, meanwhile, visited the National Burn Center and obtained new evidence of the use of weapons of mass destruction containing chemical elements (possibly white phosphorus munitions) by the Azerbaijani armed forces in Nagorno-Karabakh.