Azerbaijan: 2 civilians killed in Armenian attacks

By Jeyhun Aliyev

ANKARA (AA) - At least two civilians were killed and one injured in attacks by Armenia on civil settlements in Azerbaijan, Baku’s Foreign Ministry said Tuesday.

"URGENT! 3 civilian casualties in Tartar. Anar Isagli (26) and Anar Guliyev (36) killed, Murov Shabanov (48) injured as artillery strikes by #Armenia's forces hit their home," the ministry said on Twitter.

Azerbaijan’s Prosecutor General’s Office said the Tartar province has been subjected to Armenian forces’ missile and artillery fire from various directions since early Tuesday.

It also announced that since the start of hostilities, Armenian artillery and missile attacks on Azerbaijani settlements have killed at least 61 civilians and injured 291 others as of midday Tuesday.

A total of 1,941 houses, 90 apartments and 382 residential and public buildings have been damaged and made unusable because of Armenian attacks.

New border clashes erupted between the two ex-Soviet republics Sept. 27, when Armenia first launched attacks on civil settlements, and since then it has continued attacks on civilians and Azerbaijani forces.

During the last 10 days, Armenia broke humanitarian cease-fires in Upper Karabakh, or Nagorno-Karabakh, an internationally recognized territory of Azerbaijan.

In two attacks on Ganja, a major Azerbaijani city far from the front line, Armenian missiles killed two dozen civilians, including children, and injured scores of others.

Last Thursday, Armenia targeted civilians visiting a cemetery in the western city of Tartar, killing four and also injuring as many.

A new humanitarian cease-fire took effect last Saturday.

Four UN Security Council resolutions and two from the UN General Assembly, as well as international organizations, demand the "immediate complete and unconditional withdrawal of the occupying forces" from the occupied areas of Azerbaijan.

In total, about 20% of Azerbaijan's territory – including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent regions – has been under illegal Armenian occupation for nearly three decades.

The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Minsk Group – co-chaired by France, Russia and the US – was formed in 1992 to find a peaceful solution to the conflict, but to no avail. A cease-fire, however, was agreed to in 1994.

World powers including Russia, France and the US have called for a new cease-fire. Turkey, meanwhile, has supported Baku's right to self-defense and demanded the withdrawal of Armenia's occupying forces.