The Digital Forensic Research Lab has addressed in a lengthy article Azerbaijan’s use of banned phosphorus munitions against Artsakh during the war, noting that satellite imagery shows the damage caused to the environment as a result of the use of white phosphorus in Artsakh.
According to a report by Armenpress, it was specifically noted that during the last week of hostilities, open-source satellite images show that Azerbaijan’s use of white phosphorus munitions over the forests of Nagorno-Karabakh has caused environmental devastation.
It was stated that at the beginning of November, videos had appeared on Twitter and other social media sites showing the use of banned white phosphorus munitions over Armenian-controlled areas in Artsakh. It was noted that the images had not received significant attention from international media or international environmental protection organisations, but Transparency International Armenia had published an “Environmental Alert” condemning the use of this weapon. The article quotes from that publication: “The use of white phosphorus by Azerbaijani forces in those forests not only destroys valuable ecological systems and habitats, putting certain species at risk of extinction, but also pollutes rivers and groundwater for years, thus becoming a threat of regional scale to the people and wildlife living in the region.”
However, it was noted that Azerbaijan denies this, accusing the Armenian side of having used phosphorus against territories under their control. But the author of the article rightly observed that there is no evidence in open sources to substantiate this claim. “The satellite imagery, however, confirms the great damage caused by fire in a large forested area of territory under Armenian control, while videos of Azerbaijan’s use of phosphorus munitions have also appeared. Targeting forested areas is a strategy sometimes used to push military operations out of territories or to cause great devastation to the environment,” is written in the Digital Forensic Research Lab’s article.
It was also noted that some videos were filmed by Armenian soldiers, in which white phosphorus munitions can be seen falling on defensive positions.
