A senior U.S. aid official said on Tuesday the United States would stand in solidarity with Armenia following an offensive by Azerbaijan to retake the Nagorno-Karabakh region that has prompted thousands of Armenians to flee.

Samantha Power, head of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), said it was essential that the international community gained access to Karabakh, amid reports of unknown numbers of people being injured and requiring evacuation, or lacking food and other essentials. (Reporting by Felix Light Writing by Gareth Jones; Editing by Mark Trevelyan)