22 June 2020, 17:10
Azerbaijan registers machine gun and sniper shelling attacks in Karabakh conflict zone
The positions of the Azerbaijani troops in the Karabakh conflict zone were shelled 26 times within 24 hours, including from machine guns and sniper rifles, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) of Azerbaijan reported.
The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on June 21, the Azerbaijani MoD counted 25 shelling attacks within 24 hours, while a day earlier, 24 shelling attacks were registered.
"Units of the Armenian armed forces used heavy machine guns and sniper rifles and 26 times violated the ceasefire regime in various directions of the front within 24 hours," the Azerbaijani MoD reports on its website today.
The fire came both from Armenia and from areas considered by Azerbaijan as its occupied territories, the Azerbaijani MoD reports.
As at 9:40 a.m. Moscow time on today, the Ministries of Defence of Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh have not yet posted on their official websites any comments on the statement released by the Azerbaijani MoD.
After the escalation of the Karabakh conflict in April 2016, the parties agreed on the ceasefire. Despite the agreement, over two years, the parties claimed daily shelling attacks in the conflict zone, as it follows from the infographic "Karabakh after the truce: a two-year war" prepared by the "Caucasian Knot". After the meeting of officials from the Ministries of Foreign Affairs (MFA) of Armenia and Azerbaijan, held on June 20, Azerbaijan stated an almost complete cessation of shelling attacks; however, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) of Nagorno-Karabakh continues to register violations of the ceasefire.
This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on June 22, 2020 at 10:14 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.