The battle was part of a larger territorial land dispute with the predominantly Armenian population in Karabakh who, aided by the neighboring Armenia, regained independence from the Republic of Azerbaijan.
Bordering Armenia proper, the predominantly Armenian populated region of Nagorno-Karabakh had announced their declaration of independence from Azerbaijan in 1991 and fighting had taken place mostly in the enclave itself.
Seeking to keep the territory under its rule, the Armenians of Karabakh were aided by Armenia itself in the form of logistics, supplies, volunteers and military weaponry.
Kelbajar, only several kilometers from Armenia's border, comprised several dozen villages including its eponymous provincial capital.
The demand to unify with Armenia, which proliferated in the late 1980s, began in a relatively peaceful manner; however, in the following months, as the Soviet Union's disintegration neared, it gradually grew into an increasingly violent conflict between the two ethnic groups.