BAKU, Azerbaijan, Oct. 5
By Samir Ali - Trend:
The rocket fire by the Armenian Armed Forces on the settlements of Ganja and Mingachevir cities from the territory of Armenia is a war crime, military analyst Ramil Mammadli told Trend.
He added that the attack was made with "Smerch" heavy multiple rocket launcher.
“By these actions, Armenia provokes Azerbaijan into a full-scale war. In the continuation of the process, Azerbaijan must destroy the firing points of these missiles. All this is done for the success of the operations carried out by the Azerbaijani army in Nagorno-Karabakh,” Mammadli said.
“Losing positions one after another, Armenia is targeting the civilian population, thinking that the Azerbaijani army will stop military operations. But the Azerbaijani Armed Forces, continuing the process, will inflict serious blows to the Armenian forces,” the analyst noted.
He added that the Armenian leadership, by shelling Ganja and Mingachevir, intends to stop the Azerbaijani army, but this is impossible.
"The missiles fired by Armenia are designed to engage a target at a distance of 40 to 120 km. The use of these weapons is contrary to international conventions,” added Mammadli.
Armenian Armed Forces launched a large-scale military attack on positions of 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 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.