Missiles fired from Armenia since the end of the conflict have hit Azerbaijan’s second-largest city, an aide to the Azerbaijani president has claimed.
Despite calls from Russia, the United
States, France and the European Union for a ceasefire, the war in the South
Caucasus, which began a week ago, has accelerated.
Until now, the main battle has been
between Azerbaijan and the separatist region of Nagorno-Karabakh, an Armenian
siege inside Azerbaijan, also known as Aristotle.
This now threatens to lead to a direct war
between the two countries.
So far, about 200 workers have been killed’
near Nagorno-Karabakh, according to officials, while Azerbaijani officials say
22 civilians have been killed’ and 74 injured.
Azerbaijan's aide to the president, Hikmat
Hajiyev, tweeted a video on Sunday saying the buildings had been damaged and
said it was” in Ganja, Armenia's second-largest city. Is the result of
"missile attacks" that are not in Nagorno-Karabakh.
He said the Ganges and Beylagan, which are
connected’ to Nagorno-Karabakh, were attacked "from the territory of
Armenia".
The Armenian Defense Ministry has denied
the attack, saying, "No fire can be opened in the direction of Azerbaijan
from the territory of Armenia."
However, Nagorno-Karabakh leader Arayik Harutyunyan
said on Facebook that he had ordered "rocket attacks to neutralize
military equipment" in Ganja but later stopped firing to avoid civilian
casualties.
His spokesman, Vahram Poghosyan, said the
region's army had destroyed a military airfield in Ganja - a claim denied by
Azerbaijani officials.
Azerbaijan's Foreign Ministry tweeted that
one civilian was killed’ and four others were injured in the attack.
The conflict threatens to drag other
regional powers because Azerbaijan has the support of Turkey, while Armenia has
a defense pact with Russia.
The Turkish Foreign Minister said:
"The attacks on Armenian citizens in Ganja ... are a new manifestation of
Armenian illegal behavior. We condemn these attacks."
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev tweeted
that his forces had captured the city of Jabrail and several villages.
Armenian Defense Ministry spokesman
Shushan Stepanyan dismissed the claim as "another fabrication" - but
independent verification was not possible.
Earlier, Azerbaijan accused Armenia of
firing on its territory from the city of Vardenis, 50 miles (80 km) from
Nagorno-Karabakh, but Armenia has denied this.
On Saturday, Azerbaijan said its forces
had seized several villages.
The conflict is the worst since the 1990s,
when nearly 30,000 people were’ killed.
There is international concern about
stability in the South Caucasus as pipelines carry Azeri oil and gas to world
markets.
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