Armenia and Azerbaijan accused each other of violating the ceasefire in Nagorno-Karabakh on Wednesday night, and targeting civilian areas. The fresh fighting comes three weeks after the worst outbreak of violence since 1994.
“Azerbaijani forces are targeting the civilian population of Karabakh,” said Armenian defence ministry spokesman Artsrun Hovhannisyan, accusing the Azerbaijani side of firing around 550 artillery strikes at settlements.
Hayk S. Minasyan, a Karabakhi soldier, was killed by Azerbaijani shelling overnight according to the defence ministry of the self-declared Nagorno-Karabakh Republic.
The violations overnight took place along the Line of Contact between Martakert on the Armenian side and Terter on the Azerbaijani side. According to Azerbaijan, it was Armenia that violated the ceasefire overnight and is targeting non-combatants.
“They, unlike us, are shelling residential areas with large-caliber weapons, as a result of which a number of houses have been damaged in the Azerbaijani district of Terter,” said Azerbaijani government spokesman Vagif Dargahli.
After fighting which started on April 2, killing dozens, a verbal agreement on the cessation of hostilities was brokered by Russia on April 5. However since then, both sides have accused each other of multiple violations using high calibre weapons.
Darghali described the current situation as “stable,” adding that Azerbaijan has the upper hand. The defence ministry of the self-declared Nagorno-Karabakh Republic said “currently the situation is relatively calm”.
SOURCE: commonspace.eu and agencies
PHOTO: from news agency APA.az, which claims the photo shows Azerbaijani homes damaged by Armenian shelling
