YEREVAN, November 4. /TASS/. Azerbaijan’s Armed Forces shelled Stepanakert and Shushi in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh from Smerch multiple rocket launchers, leaving at least one civilian wounded, according to preliminary data, Armenian Defense Ministry Representative Artsrun Hovhannisyan said.
"In the evening, Stepanakert came under rocket shelling. According to preliminary data, one person was injured," Hovhannisyan said. In his words, a Smerch rocket was launched towards a maternity and children’s hospital in the unrecognized republic’s capital.
Since early morning, Azerbaijan’s forces have been carrying out an offensive along all directions using aviation and artillery, but to no avail.
Renewed clashes between Azerbaijan and Armenia erupted on September 27, with intense battles raging in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh. Both parties to the conflict have reported casualties, among them civilians. Three ceasefire agreements had been reached but shortly after the conflicting sides traded blame for violations.
The conflict over 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.