YEREVAN - The Armenian Defense Ministry has announced the intention to use artillery and missiles against the Azerbaijani Armed Forces.
The ministry said on Saturday its decision derived from the first occurrence of 122mm artillery weapons’ use by Azerbaijani troops.
‘Seeking to suppress the enemy, prevent its operations and assist in the negotiating process, from now on the Armenian Armed Forces will be using proportionate artillery and missile means and will be constantly keeping under fire the areas where Azerbaijani Armed Forces units move, every movement of forces, military hardware and troops,’ the Armenian Defense Ministry said.
‘The Armenian Defense Ministry calls attention of the OSCE Minsk Group co- chairmen and the international community to the fact that the use of artillery by the Azerbaijani side creates a new situation along the contact line, which is another step towards large-scale military operations,’ the ministry said.
‘The ongoing escalation of tensions which leads to human casualties and the unspecified criticism and concern expressed by the international community are inadmissible,’ the document said.
According to the Armenian Defense Ministry, four servicemen of the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic were killed and another 16 were injured on Friday evening in a missile attack of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces on defense lines of a military unit stationed in the north-eastern sector.
‘The strikes were delivered on units stationed in the rear rather than on the frontline,’ the Armenian Defense Ministry said.’
Until now, the Armenian Armed Forces have been exhibiting a soft approach with the purpose of helping the political settlement process however neither this ( approach) nor the response of the OSCE Minsk Group co- chairmen and the international community has had an effect on the enemy’s compliance with the truce. Moreover, the enemy has been staging new provocations in an atmosphere of impunity and illusion of its own superiority,’ the Armenian Defense Ministry said.
