Pakistani KRL-122 in Nagorno-Karabakh @via social media.
September 5, 2023.
Azerbaijan has reportedly deployed Pakistan-developed KRL-122 multiple rocket launcher systems (MLRS) against Armenian forces in Artsakh, also known as the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic.
Several military observers have shared videos of the MLRS on social media, which are based on Russia’s BM-21 Grad, being used by Azerbaijan. The KRL-122 was originally based on an Isuzu truck, but later models use the Reo M35 truck. Some sources refer to it with the designation “Gadab.” In addition to the original Soviet rockets, the system can launch the Yarmuk Rocket developed by Pakistan Ordnance Factories. The KRL-122 has achieved a maximum range of over 40 km due to the use of upgraded 122 mm rockets.
Azerbaijan-Armenia conflict
Both Azerbaijan and Armenia lay claim to Nagorno-Karabakh.
Azerbaijan’s rejection of the region’s self-declared independence, stemming from its Armenian-majority population, led to a 44-day war that ended with a 2020 ceasefire brokered by Russia. However, tensions persist in the region.
On Monday, both countries exchanged accusations of attacks on troops in the autonomous Nakhchivan and Kalbajar regions. Azerbaijan’s Defense Ministry stated that positions of the Azerbaijani Army Units in the direction of Havush settlement in the Sharur region of the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic came under fire from Armenian armed forces units stationed in the opposite direction. The ministry reported that the military took “retaliatory measures.”
Azerbaijan also claimed earlier that Armenians fired on its military positions using small arms in the direction of the Heydarabad settlement in the Sadarak district of Nakhchivan.
Meanwhile, Armenia’s Defense Ministry reported that two of its servicemen were killed and another was wounded in shelling near the town of Sotk.
In an interview with the Italian newspaper La Repubblica published on September 3, Armenia’s Prime Minister, Nikol Pashinyan, accused Russia of failing to ensure Armenia’s security in the face of what he described as aggression from neighboring Azerbaijan over the breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh region.
Pashinyan suggested that Moscow, which has a defense pact with Armenia and a military base there, did not regard his country as sufficiently pro-Russian. He also expressed his belief that Russia was in the process of leaving the wider South Caucasus region.
“Today we see that Russia itself is in need of weapons, arms and ammunition (for the war in Ukraine) and in this situation it’s understandable that even if it wishes so, the Russian Federation cannot meet Armenia’s security needs,” Pashinyan said. “This example should demonstrate to us that dependence on just one partner in security matters is a strategic mistake.”
