Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 4
Trend:
Azerbaijani armed forces have never shelled civilians, civil facilities and cars by respecting the norms and principles of international humanitarian law, Azerbaijani Defense Ministry told Trend Feb. 4.
The ministry made the remarks while commenting on absurd information of the Armenian side regarding the fact that the Azerbaijani armed forces allegedly opened fire at a car owned by a civilian.
The information spread by the Armenian side is absolutely groundless and aims to charge Azerbaijan and conceal another sabotage of Armenians on the Azerbaijani-Armenian state border, said the defense ministry.
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.
The two countries signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, Russia, France and the US are currently holding peace negotiations.
Armenia has not yet implemented the UN Security Council's four resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding regions.