Karabakh: Tensions on the contact line flare up again

Reports from Armenia

According to the Nagorno-Karabakh Defense Ministry’s press service, on 4 July, the Azerbaijani armed forces continued to violate the ceasefire regime along the contact line, using ‘different-caliber mortars’. “At 8:20 p.m., TR-107 reactive rocket-propelled howitzers were used in the southern direction of the contact line.”

As reported, it’s the first time that Azerbaijani armed forces have used the aforesaid type of weapons since the escalation of tension in April last year.

Armenian media have been reprinting the Nagorno-Karabakh Defense Ministry’s statement which reads as follows: “The Defense Ministry of the Artsakh Republic would like to draw the relevant international organizations’ attention to the incident, and warn the Azerbaijani side that the response will be ‘disproportionate’.”

Reports from Azerbaijan

The Azerbaijani Defense Ministry reported that Sahiba Guliyeva (50 years old) and Zakhra Guliyeva (2 years old), residents of Alkhanly village in Fizuli province, were killed by shelling late on 4 July. The village was shelled by 82mm and 120mm mortars, as well as from mounted grenade launchers. One more woman, Sarvinaz Guliyeva, received a fragmentation wound.

“The adversary’s attack was suppressed as a result of adequate response on part of the Azerbaijani armed forces. The responsibility for the bloody provocation rests entirely with the Armenian defense and political leadership,” Azerbaijani Defense Ministry stated.

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