Azerbaijan Reiterates Threats to Hit Nagorno-Karabakh Capital with Missiles
TEHRAN (Tasnim) - The Azeri Defense Ministry reiterated threats on Tuesday to attack the capital of the self-proclaimed region of Nagorno-Karabakh, Hankendi (Stepanakert), if the Armenian army continues to carry out artillery strikes against settlements on the territory of Azerbaijan.
Earlier in the day, ministry’s spokesman Vagif Dargahli said that the Armenian servicemen were shelling the northeastern and southeastern regions of the line of contact between the countries, amid the ongoing escalation of the situation in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh.
"We have warned that if the shelling of settlements on the Karabakh line of contact continues, Defense Minister Zakir Gasanov gave an order to be ready to carry out a missile attack on Hankendi," Dargahli told RIA Novosti.
Dargahli made similar statements on Monday.
He also accused the Armenian Armed Forces of shelling Azeri positions on the front line in the de facto independent Nagorno-Karabakh republic 120 times in the past 24 hours.
“The shelling of Azeri positions and residential areas in Terter, Agdam, and Fuzuli was carried out with large caliber 60-, 82-, and 120-mm cannons and grenade launchers 120 times in 24 hours. The Azerbaijani Armed Forces are controlling the situation on the front line of the territories liberated on Saturday,” Dargahli said.
The conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh began in 1988, when the Armenian-dominated autonomous region sought to secede from the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic, before the latter proclaimed independence following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.