Conflict coverage · South Caucasus

The Four-Day War

2 – 5 Apr 2016Key eventKarabakh line of contact

MilitaryArmenia–Azerbaijan / Karabakh legacy

The heaviest Karabakh fighting since 1994: Azerbaijani forces take small positions along the line of contact, both sides lose over a hundred killed, and a Moscow-brokered ceasefire restores quiet without restoring the status quo ante.

Why it mattersThe dress rehearsal for 2020 — proof that Azerbaijan's rearmament had changed the balance, that the ceasefire had no enforcement mechanism, and that Moscow would broker rather than defend. The lesson each capital drew was the one it acted on four years later.

Confidence: HighSources: Established historical record · International Crisis Group ↗Methodology Corrections

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Related structure

3 records that this event names, or that name it. Every one is an explicit reference in a published record — nothing here is inferred from subject matter.

Part of

Campaigns whose record places this event inside them.

Karabakh conflictTwenty-six years without a settlement

Participants

Organisations this event records, with the role and confidence it states.

Azerbaijani Armed Forces · atlasAttacking forcehigh confidence
Nagorno-Karabakh Armenian forces · atlasDefending forcehigh confidence

Where this fits

This is one entry in the Caucasus timeline. The full Key Events surface carries every dated turning point with its filters and its essential subset, and this event in place shows what came before and after it. How Vigil grades, dates and sources its claims is set out in the methodology.