Armenia’s heavy gunfire closing schools in frontline villages
By Sara Rajabova
Armenian armed forces continue to raise the tensions on the contact line of Armenian-Azerbaijani troops by shelling a civilian settlement located close to the frontline.
Armenian troops fired on the frontline villages of Azerbaijan’s Aghdam region on the morning of January 7, local media reported.
The Armenians shelled Chiragli, OrtaGarvand and Mirashilli villages by large-caliber weapons, and machine guns.
The villagers said the shooting lasted about an hour and the Armenian forces mainly targeted the houses. The roofs and windows of the houses were damaged by the bullets. The bullets even entered inside the houses.
As a result of the heavy shelling, the school classes were cancelled in the OrtaGarvand village.
Besides, a car owned by resident of the Mirashilli village was also set on fire by Armenian gunfire.
The villagers said the situation is very dangerous, as the Armenian armed forces have been targeting the civilian settlement during the last several days.
The Armenian armed forces have recently escalated the tensions on the contact line of Armenian and Azerbaijani troops with frequent ceasefire violations.
They fired at the positions of the Azerbaijani armed forces and frontline settlements by using large-caliber weapons, anti-tank grenade launchers and 60- and 82-millimeter mortars on January 3.
Azerbaijani MP, Elman Mammadov said Armenian subversive group’s targeting of the peaceful inhabitants of Azerbaijan once again confirms that Serzh Sargsyan regime is a terrorist regime.
Mammadov told New Azerbaijan Party’s website that there are indisputable facts verifying the terrorist nature of the regime.
He said Sargsyan was one of the commanders in the field, who previously headed the criminal groups. “The state that is ruled by criminal, terrorist and military culprits has always committed certain criminal acts against the civilian population,” Mammadov said.
He called on international organizations to pay more attention to this issue, noting that by brining to world’s attention such criminal cases, it is possible to prevent from Azerbaijanis being victim of the terror.
The Armenian armed forces frequently wound the villagers in their homes or on their farms.
Several months ago, the Armenian forces killed a resident in the Tartar region while he was fishing. They also injured three children while they were playing in their homes' yard.
Due to the frequent ceasefire violations by Armenian armed forces, the Azerbaijani villagers have gone through great difficulties, as constant shelling of their homes has hampered their daily life.
Armenia occupied over 20 percent of Azerbaijan's internationally recognized territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent regions, after laying territorial claims against its South Caucasus neighbor that caused a brutal war in the early 1990s.
As a result of the military aggression of Armenia, over 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed, 4,866 are reported missing and almost 100,000 were injured, and 50,000 were disabled.
The UN Security Council has passed four resolutions on Armenian withdrawal from the Azerbaijani territory, but they have not been enforced to this day.
Peace talks, mediated by Russia, France and the U.S. through the OSCE Minsk Group, are underway on the basis of a peace outline proposed by the Minsk Group co-chairs and dubbed the Madrid Principles. However, the negotiations have been largely fruitless so far despite the efforts of the co-chair countries over 20 years.
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Sara Rajabova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on
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