Armenia and Azerbaijan traded fire on Thursday night, though there were no immediate reports of casualties.
Heavy fighting broke out on April 2, killing dozens before a verbal ceasefire agreement was reached on April 5. Since then, there have been constant reports of continued violence.
Early on Friday, the Azerbaijani Defence Ministry said it was "inevitable" its armed forces would launch an attack if Armenian troops do not withdraw from occupied lands.
The comments were made because of "information spread by the Armenian side about the alleged attack planned by Azerbaijani armed forces for May 8-9," according to the APA.az news agency.
Overnight, Azerbaijan’s armed forces have accused Armenia of violating the ceasefire “112 times in various directions”, firing mortars and machine guns from several villages along the northeastern part of the Line of Contact between the two countries.
Azerbaijan claims it carried out its retaliatory fire only in response. However Armenia said it was its own military which was fired upon, and which reacted proportionally.
This has become a pattern over the past month, with both sides continually accusing the other of first violating the ceasefire, and claiming its own reaction was strictly proportionate.
“Overnight May 5-6 the situation did not change in the Karabakh-Azerbaijani line of contact. Azerbaijani forces continued violating ceasefire agreement in line of contact by firing various caliber weapons, 82mm mortars and anti-tank grenade launcher (RPG-7),” said the defence ministry of the self-declared Nagorno-Karabakh Republic.
SOURCE: commonspace.eu and agencies
PHOTO: from APA.az
