BAKU, Azerbaijan, Oct. 5
Trend:
Armenian armed forces shelled the central market of Ganja, Head of Foreign Policy Affairs Department of the Presidential Administration, Hikmat Hajiyev said, Trend reports citing the office's Twitter account.
“How the market could have any military importance? This indiscriminate missile attack was done with the sole purpose of causing mass casualties among civilians. State terrorism of Armenia against civilian Azerbaijanis continues,” Hajiyev wrote.
“Intensive missile/rocket attacks by Armenia against Ganja, Mingachevir, Barda, Tartar and other major cities of Azerbaijan is State terror pursued by Armenia with the goal of killing civilians. Political-military leadership of Armenia must be held responsible,” Hajiyev also wrote.
Armenian Armed Forces launched a large-scale military attack on positions of the Azerbaijani army on the front line, using large-caliber weapons, mortars, and artillery on Sept. 27.
Azerbaijan responded with a counter-offensive along the entire front. As a result of retaliation, Azerbaijani troops liberated a number of territories previously occupied by Armenia, as well as take important, strategic heights under control.
The fighting continued into October 2020, in the early days of which Armenia has launched missile attacks on Azerbaijani cities of Ganja, Mingachevir, Khizi as well as Absheron district.
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, Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.
The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on the withdrawal of its armed forces from Nagorno Karabakh and the surrounding districts.