Azernews.Az

BAKU – A field assistant of the OSCE chairman’s envoy, Anthal Herdic, on Thursday examined the Azerbaijani territory that was recently hit by an Armenian missile, Azerbaijan’s Defense Ministry told AssA-Irada.

Armenian armed forces last Friday fired the Grad truck-mounted rocket near an occupied area in the frontline Terter region, which landed close to the Azerbaijani-controlled Borsunlu residential area. No casualties were reported.

Azerbaijan’s Defense Ministry requested that the personal representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Andrzej Kasprzyk, scrutinize the issue. It also warned that blatant ceasefire violations by Armenian troops amid tension in talks on settling the Nagorno Karabakh conflict would have bitter ramifications.

The Azerbaijani ministry said Thursday that it would be closely following steps to be taken by OSCE officials.

The Karabakh conflict flared up in the late 1980s due to Armenia's territorial claims. Armenia has been occupying over 20 percent of Azerbaijan's internationally recognized territory since a war in the early 1990s. The ceasefire accord was signed in 1994, but years of peace talks have brought few tangible results, and sporadic clashes on the frontline continue. Azerbaijan and Armenia agreed to reinforce the ceasefire in a joint statement signed by their presidents in conclusion of Russian-brokered talks in late October.