YEREVAN, September 30. /TASS/. Armenian Defense Ministry debunked Azerbaijan’s claim of use of a Tochka-U tactical missile in Nagorno-Karabakh by Yerevan Wednesday.

"The Armenian Ministry of Defense officially states that the reports by the Azerbaijani media regarding the use of a Tochka-U tactical missile system by the Armenian side are false. At the same time, we also warn that, if the Azerbaijani side intends to use this disinformation to justify the use of a similar system or a system of a higher caliber, our response will be immediate and devastating," the statement runs.

The situation in Nagorno-Karabakh escalated on September 27; battles go on at the disputed territory. Both Azerbaijan and Armenia enacted martial law and declared mobilization. Baku claims control of several Karabakh settlements and strategic heights. Yerevan debunks these statements and says territories of mainland Armenia are being shelled as well.

The conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the highland region of Nagorno-Karabakh, a disputed territory that had been part of Azerbaijan before the Soviet Union break-up, but primarily populated by ethnic Armenians, broke out in February 1988 after the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region announced its withdrawal from the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic. In 1992-1994, tensions boiled over and exploded into large-scale military action for control over the enclave and seven adjacent territories after Azerbaijan lost control of them. Talks on the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement have been ongoing since 1992 under the OSCE Minsk Group, led by its three co-chairs - Russia, France and the United States.