BAKU, Azerbaijan, Oct. 2
By Jeyhun Alakbarov – Trend:
The Armenian armed forces continue to purposefully fire at the Azerbaijani settlements and civilians, Assistant to the President of Azerbaijan, Head of the Foreign Affairs Policy Department of the Presidential Administration of Azerbaijan Hikmat Hajiyev said, Trend reports on Oct. 2.
"Over 2,000 shells fell in Tartar district today," Hajiyev said. "This is atrocity, barbarity, and inhumanity."
"These actions of Armenia, which grossly violate international humanitarian law, including the provisions of the Geneva Conventions of 1949, are a war crime," assistant to the president added.
"We state that in response, the Azerbaijani armed forces will take adequate measures," Hajiyev said.
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 took important, strategic heights under control.
Military actions continued on Sept. 29 - Oct. 1. According to a statement from Azerbaijan's Defense Ministry, the Armenian armed forces have suffered heavy losses along the entire front line from Sept. 27 through Sept. 30, including tanks, armored vehicles, artillery installations, rocket launch systems, as well as command and observation posts, air defense systems, etc.
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.