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Nagorno-Karabakh conflict

Armenian Defense Ministry accuses Azerbaijan of using mortars against Nagorno-Karabakh

The ministry also released information, according to which the Azerbaijani army was shelling the north-eastern section of Armenia’s state border

© Albert Khachatryan/Photolure via AP

Nagorno-Karabakh conflict

YEREVAN, May 4. /TASS/. The Azerbaijani army used small arms and mortars against Nagorno-Karabakh last night, the Armenian Defense Ministry said on Wednesday.

According to its version, "overnight on May 4, the enemy continued to violate the ceasefire agreement along the line of contact of the opposing forces of Azerbaijan and Nagorno-Karabakh using small arms of various calibers and mortars."

The ministry also released information, according to which the Azerbaijani army was shelling the north-eastern section of Armenia’s state border.

"Overnight on May 4, the enemy continued shelling sporadically the border positions" of the Armenian army "using small arms and sniper’s weapons of various calibers," the Defense Ministry said. "The Armenian armed forces are confidently controlling the situation along the border resorting to retaliatory steps in accordance with the situation only in the event of deliberate [truce] violations," it added.

The situation along the line of engagement of the conflicting parties in Nagorno-Karabakh deteriorated dramatically overnight to April 2. Following fierce armed clashes at the contact line, the parties to the conflict accused each other of violating truce.

On April 5, Russia mediated a meeting between Colonel-General Najmeddin Sadykov, the chief of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces General Staff, and Colonel-General Yuri Khachaturov, the chief of the Armenian Armed Forces General Staff, that took place in Moscow. The sides agreed to cease the hostilities on the line disengaging the Azerbaijani and Armenian troops in Nagorno-Karabakh. The defense ministries of Azerbaijan and Armenia announced a ceasefire on the contact line as of 12:00 (11:00 Moscow Time) the same day. Ever since, the parties occasionally report brief exchanges of fire along the contact line.

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Armenia Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh

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