UPDATE - Azerbaijan says Armenia has scaled up cross-border attacks

UPDATES WITH MORE ARMENIAN ATTACKS ON AZERBAIJANI POSITIONS; NUMEROUS OTHER EDITS; REVISES DECK

By Faruk Zorlu

ANKARA (AA) - Armenian forces have opened renewed periodic fire on several Azerbaijani army positions, Azerbaijan's Defense Ministry said Wednesday.

Mortars and artillery fire landed in the border districts of Kalbajar and Lachin last night and this morning, said a ministry statement.

The Azerbaijani army took "sufficient" retaliatory measures, it added.

No casualties or damage were reported.

Later, the ministry announced that the Armenian army is continuing to shell Azerbaijani army positions in the Kalbajar, Lachin, and Dashkasan regions.

"Azerbaijan Army positions, stationed in the directions of the Zaylik, Yellija, and Yukhari Ayrim settlements of the Kalbajar region, are being subjected to fire by the use of D-30 and D-20 howitzers from Armenian armed forces positions, stationed in the directions of Yukhari Shorzha, Ashaghi Shorzha, and Zarkand settlements of the Basarkechar region," it said.

Azerbaijan has accused Armenia of “large-scale provocations” in recent days, which resulted in fatalities on both sides, including 50 Azerbaijani soldiers and 49 Armenian soldiers, according to official accounts of the latest flare-up.

In Monday's attacks by Armenia, two farmers were injured, leaving one in critical condition, according to a joint statement of Azerbaijan's Defense Ministry and Chief Prosecutor's Office.

Relations between the former Soviet republics of Armenia and Azerbaijan have been tense since 1991, when the Armenian military occupied Nagorno-Karabakh, also known as Upper Karabakh, a territory internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan.

Azerbaijan liberated several cities and over 300 settlements and villages in 2020 that were occupied by Armenia. The fighting ended with a deal brokered by Russia.