There was also opposition voiced by the Armenian government, as well as a number of American diplomats and relief officials working in the region, who cited Sultanov's past collaboration with the Ottoman armies that had occupied the area in 1918.
Meanwhile, the Russian military barracks in Khankendi (nowadays Stepanakert) were occupied by Azerbaijani armed forces that had arrived from Baku and Ganca.
It was at that time when on June 5, 1919, Tatar (i.e. Azerbaijani) armed gangs under the command of Pasha bek Sultanov entered the Khaibalikend, Pahlul and Karkijahan villages.
[12] Later in 1919, Sultanov bolstered the size of the garrisons at Khankendi and continued to move his troops around, once more without the required consent of his administrative council.
[13] Ethnic tension in Karabakh heightened once more, as Azerbaijani troops lynched and killed several Armenians in Khankendi and pillaged the surrounding areas in February of that year.