Azerbaijan continues intense violation of cease-fire - karabakh ministry of defense
21.01.2014,
14:06
After failed attempts of subversive groups to penetrate into Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR) Monday early morning, Azerbaijan is continuing intensely violating the cease-fire in all directions along the contact line, press office of NKR’s ministry of defense told ARKA.
STEPANAKERT, January 21. /ARKA/. After failed attempts of subversive groups to penetrate into Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR) Monday early morning, Azerbaijan is continuing intensely violating the cease-fire in all directions along the contact line, press office of NKR’s ministry of defense told ARKA.
According to the report, Azeri armed forces violated the cease-fire about 240 times and fired over 2,000 shots on January 20 and January 21 early morning only.
The frontline subdivisions of Karabakh Army of Defense took the required measures to suppress aggression and are now on combat alert along the frontline, says the report.
The Karabakh conflict started in 1988 when prevailingly Armenian population of Nagorno-Karabakh declared withdrawal from Azerbaijan. On December 10, 1991, a referendum was held in Nagorno-Karabakh where 99.89% voted for independence from Azerbaijan.
Azerbaijan responded by large-scale military operations that led to loss of control not only over Nagorno-Karabakh itself, but also over seven adjoining areas. About 25-30 thousands people were killed and about a million had to leave their homes during the military operations.
A trilateral cease-fire agreement was signed on May 12, 2004, and has been followed since then.
The ongoing Karabakh peace process started in 1992 under auspices of OSCE Minsk Group co-chaired by the USA, Russia and France. -0-
