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Nagorno-Karabakh conflict

Azerbaijan denies shelling church in Nagorno-Karabakh

The Armenian Defense Ministry spokesman said earlier on Thursday that the Azerbaijani army had shelled the Ghazanchetsots Holy Savior Cathedral in Shushi

BAKU, October 8. /TASS/. Azerbaijani Defense Ministry on Thursday rejected reports that its forces had shelled the Ghazanchetsots Holy Savior Cathedral in the town of Shusha (Shushi in Armenian) in Nagorno-Karabakh.

"The information that the church in Shusha has been damaged has nothing to do with the Azerbaijani army’s combat operations. As distinct from the Armenian armed forces, which damaged civil facilities, residential buildings and also the Imamzadeh religious and architectural monument during the shelling of Ganja on October 4, the Azerbaijani army takes no aim at historical and cultural monuments, especially religious facilities," the ministry said in a statement.

The Armenian Defense Ministry spokesman said earlier on Thursday that the Azerbaijani army had shelled the Ghazanchetsots Holy Savior Cathedral in Shushi.

Renewed clashes between Azerbaijan and Armenia erupted on September 27, with intense battles raging in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh. The area experienced flare-ups of violence in the summer of 2014, in April 2016 and this past July. Azerbaijan and Armenia have imposed martial law and launched mobilization efforts. Both parties to the conflict have reported casualties, among them civilians.

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.

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