YEREVAN, September 19. /TASS/. Against the backdrop of ongoing anti-government protests in downtown Yerevan, the National Security Service (NSS) of Armenia vowed on Tuesday to counter all actions that threaten the country’s domestic security.

"The NSS will take effective legal measures to support the country’s constitutional order and defend the rights and legitimate interests of citizens and the state and neutralize all actions that destabilize the domestic security of the Republic of Armenia," the statement says.

On September 19, tensions flared up again in Nagorno-Karabakh. Baku announced it was launching what it described as "local anti-terrorist measures" and demanded the withdrawal of Armenian troops from the region. Yerevan, in turn, said there were no Armenian forces in Karabakh, calling what was happening "an act of large-scale aggression." Residents of the Armenian capital took to the streets to protest outside the Armenian government building, blaming the country’s leadership and Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan for the situation.