Azerbaijan Says Armenian Forces Shell Big City, Yerevan Denies

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Azerbaijan Says Armenian Forces Shell Big City, Yerevan Denies
By: Radio Free Europe & Radial Liberty - 10-04-20
Re: https://www.rferl.org/a/missile-stri.../30873977.html

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Damage to buildings in Stepanakert, the main city of Nagorno-Karabakh, after reported shelling.

Azerbaijan's Defense Ministry said on October 4 that Armenian forces targeted Ganja, its second city, with missiles in an escalation of the war in the South Caucasus that broke out one week ago.

Armenia denied that it had directed fire "of any kind" toward Azerbaijan, but the de facto leader of the breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh region said his forces had destroyed a military air base in Ganja.

In statements posted on its website, the ministry in Baku said Ganja, a city of more than 330,000 in western Azerbaijan, and several other civilian areas were under fire from rockets and shelling. RFE/RL's Azerbaijani Service quoted the ministry as saying the Azerbaijani Army "is taking adequate retaliatory measures."

Defense Minister Zakir Hasanov said the shelling of Azerbaijan’s territory from Armenia is an open provocation that expands the area of the battle and added that Azerbaijan took "retaliatory measures."

"Delivering fire on the territory of Azerbaijan from the territory of Armenia is clearly provocative and expands the zone of hostilities," Hasanov said.

The Azerbaijani cities of Terter and Goradiz had also been targeted, the ministry said.

It did not say what kind of measures it had taken, but journalists on the ground reported that explosions were rocking Stepanakert, the main city of Nagorno-Karabakh.

"Azerbaijani forces are shelling civilian targets in Stepanakert with rockets," Armenian Defense Ministry spokesman Artsrun Hovhannisian was quoted as saying.

Hovhannisian denied that Armenia had targeted Ganja, but Nagorno-Karabakh's de facto leader, Arayik Harutiunian, said his forces had destroyed a military air base in Ganja.

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Harutiunian earlier tweeted that Stepanakert was being targeted by Polonez and Smerch multiple rocket launchers and threatened retaliation against "military objectives" in Azerbajani cities, calling for civilians to leave the cities "to avoid inevitable loss."

On October 3, Azerbaijani troops captured several villages in fighting over the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh, President Ilham Aliyev said.

Aliyev said seven villages in the Terter, Jabrail, and Fuzuli districts had been “liberated.”

Hovhannisian did not confirm that villages had been captured but said there had been heavy fighting.

“The duration of the continuous battle was six to seven hours,” Hovhannisian said, according to RFE/RL’s Armenian Service. “These were rather heavy and difficult battles, and it is clear that all this is not easy for our troops."

Hovhannisian said the Armenian forces shot down drones and destroyed armored vehicles. He said the enemy “lost” hundreds of fighters on October 3, but there was no independent confirmation.

Both sides of the conflict regularly exaggerate losses inflicted on their opponent as part of the parallel information war.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian said in an address on October 3 that the scale of the attack was unprecedented.

"We are experiencing, perhaps, the most decisive moment in our millennial history," Pashinian said, adding: "Today, more than ever, we are determined to defend our identity, our homeland, our right."

"As of now, we already have sustained significant human losses -- both military and civilian. Large numbers of military equipment are no longer usable, but the adversary still has not been able to resolve any of its strategic issues," he said.

Pashinian said about 150 high-ranking Turkish military personnel “are at the command posts of various levels of the armed forces of Azerbaijan and are in charge of military operations.” Pashinian was referring to allegations Turkey has provided material military support to Azerbaijani forces.

The fighting sides have reported nearly 200 deaths, including many civilians in a week of fighting. This includes 19 Azerbaijani civilians, according Prosecutor-General Kamran Aliyev.

The clashes have taken place along much of the so-called Line of Contact that separates the ethnic Armenian forces from Azerbaijan's troops.

There are concerns that the violence could grow into a full-blown war between the archfoes and draw in regional powers Russia and NATO-member Turkey.

In an interview with the Al Jazeera broadcaster earlier on October 3, Aliyev urged Russia, the United States, and France -- the so-called Minsk Group that has spearheaded peace efforts over Nagorno-Karabakh since the early 1990s -- to continue efforts to resolve the conflict.

“I think these three countries should continue working together on settling the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, but on the condition that they remain neutral,” Aliyev said in the interview.

The comments came one day after the Armenian Foreign Ministry said it welcomed a joint call the previous day from the Minsk Group for an immediate cessation of hostilities between forces fighting over Nagorno-Karabakh.

Nagorno-Karabakh is internationally recognized as Azerbaijani territory, but it is controlled by ethnic Armenian separatists with close ties to Yerevan. Armenian forces hold control over seven regions adjacent to Nagorno-Karabakh.

Azerbaijan and Armenia have been locked in a conflict over the mountainous region since the waning years of the Soviet Union. They fought a war that ended in 1994 with an uneasy cease-fire and an estimated 30,000 killed.

Contributors: With reporting by AFP, AP, Interfax, and Reuters