BAKU, Azerbaijan, Oct. 17
Trend:
The number of Azerbaijani civilians who died as a result of missile attacks on Ganja city by the Armenian armed forces on October 17 reached 14 people, Head of the Ganja City Mayor’s Office Niyazi Bayramov said, Trend’s special correspondent in Ganja reports.
Bayramov said that 55 people were injured as a result of the missile shelling.
“Fascist Armenia subjects civilians to missile fire. The blow was struck at night, but the residents of Ganja are still closely rallied around the head of state, they are not afraid of anything, and they want the national flag of Azerbaijan to fly in Shusha, Khankandi,” the city’s mayor stressed.
According to the latest reports, as a result of the Armenian Armed Forces’ missile attack on residential areas in the central part of Ganja city, the second-largest city of Azerbaijan located outside the front line zone at nearly 01:00 (GMT +4) on October 17, 14 people were killed, 52 people injured, and numerous civilian infrastructure facilities and vehicles were heavily damaged.
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, the 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.