Azerbaijan on Saturday accused Armenia of launching a ballistic missile attack on its second-largest city, killing at least 13 civilians and wounding 50 others in a new conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh.
The
Armenian Defense Ministry refused to launch the strike, but separatist
officials in Nagorno-Karabakh issued a statement listing "legitimate"
military bases in the city of Ganja, although they claimed responsibility for
the attack. Unable to
Azerbaijani
officials say Soviet-made Scud missiles destroyed or damaged 20 residential
buildings in Ganja overnight and emergency workers spent hours searching for
victims and survivors in the rubble.
The
skid missile dates back to the 1960s and carries a large explosive load, but is
known’ for its low precision.
In
a televised address to the nation, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev called
the missile strike a war crime and warned the Armenian leadership that it would
face responsibility.
"Azerbaijan
will respond and it will do so exclusively on the battlefield," Aliyev
said.
Although
authorities in both Azerbaijan and Armenia have denied targeting civilians,
residential areas have been heavily shelled’ amid three weeks of hostilities,
despite Russia's call for a ceasefire.
According
to separatist officials, the regional capital of Negro-Karabakh, Stepanakert,
came under heavy shelling overnight, injuring three civilians.
Nagorno-Karabakh
is located in Azerbaijan but has been under the control of the Armenian-backed
ethnic Armenian army since the end of a war in 1994. The latest fighting began
on September 27 and involved heavy artillery, rockets, and drones, killing and
maiming hundreds. Marking the largest escalation of hostilities between South
Caucasus neighbors in more than a quarter of a century.
Aliyev
announced on Saturday that Azerbaijani forces had gained a "strategic
edge" and captured the town of Fizuli and seven surrounding villages.
Fizuli
is one of seven Azerbaijani territories outside Nagorno-Karabakh that were
occupied’ by the Armenian army during the war in the early 1990s.
Russia,
which has a security agreement with Armenia but also has warm relations with
Azerbaijan hosted more than 10 hours of talks hosted by top diplomats of the
two countries, which ended on Saturday. ۔ But
the deal immediately. Lost, both sides accused each other of violating it.
Azerbaijan
has insisted that it has the right to reclaim its territory by force, following
the efforts of the so-called Minsk Group of International Arbitrators,
comprising Russia, the United States and France. Azerbaijan has actively urged
its ally Turkey to play a significant role in future peace talks.
Speaking
on the phone with his Azerbaijani counterpart, Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi
Akar congratulated Azerbaijan on "liberating Fizuli from occupation"
and shooting down Armenian planes.
The
Azerbaijani army announced on Saturday that it had shot down an Armenian S-25
jet, which was immediately rejected’ by the Armenian Ministry of Defense.
Turkish-provided
drones and rocket systems have provided Azerbaijan's military with a key edge
on the battlefield, leaving behind Armenian forces that rely heavily on old
Soviet-era weapons.
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