Azernews.Az

By Aisha Jabbarova

Armenian forces continue shelling Azerbaijan’s densely-populated areas despite the humanitarian truce reached on October 10 with Russia’s mediation.

The Defence Ministry reported on October 12 morning that Azerbaijan’s Goranboy, Terter and Aghdam regions are under intensive missile fire.

Armenian troops fired at the Ganja and Mingachevir cities, as well as the villages of Goranboy, Terter, Aghdam, Aghjabedi, Fizuli, and Jabrayil regions throughout October 10 and 11, damaging the civilian infrastructure, the ministry said.

The civilian infrastructure was severely damaged at the area called the Harami steppe and at the Yukhari Giyameddinli village of the Agjabadi district, the press service of the Prosecutor General’s Office has reported.

The Defence Ministry said that the political and military leadership of Armenia bears the responsibility for the aggravation of the sitation in the region.

The Armenian armed forces launched intense fire from heavy artillery in Agjabadi district at 17:00 on October 11. As a result of the explosions of cannon shells, the civil infrastructure was severely damage.

The Prosecutor General’s Office said that "the Armenian armed forces, grossly violating the requirements of the humanitarian ceasefire, declared at 12:00 (GMT+4) on October 10, as well as the norms and principles of the Geneva Conventions of 1949, continue terror against civilian population of Azerbaijan."

Armenia also launched nightly missile attack on Ganja, Azerbaijan’s second largest city on October 11, killing nine people and injuring 34 others.

Armenia has launched missile attacks targeting civilian settlements in Azerbaijan after it resumed attacks near occupied Nagorno-Karabakh region on September 27.

Overall, 41 Azerbaijanis civilians have been killed in Armenia’s attacks on densely-populated areas.

Azerbaijan and Armenia are locked in a conflict over Azerbaijan’s Nagorno-Karabakh breakaway region, which along with seven adjacent regions was occupied by Armenian forces in a war in the early 1990s. More than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed and around one million were displaced as a result of the large-scale hostilities.

The OSCE Minsk Group co-chaired by the United States, Russia and France has been mediating the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict since the signing of the volatile cease-fire agreement in 1994. The Minsk Group’s efforts have resulted in no progress and to this date, Armenia has failed to abide by the UN Security Council resolutions (822, 853, 874 and 884) that demand the withdrawal of Armenian military forces from the occupied territories of Azerbaijan.