Between 4 and 10 p.m. local time on Monday, Azerbaijani forces fired at Armenian positions in Artsakh’s southwestern region, in the Shosh-Mkhitarashedn districts, Artsakh’s Defense Ministry reported on Tuesday.
In addition to firearms, the Azerbaijani armed forces also used SPG-9 anti-tank grenade launchers firing three projectiles at Armenian positions.
The Artsakh Defense Ministry said that there were no injuries and its has provided the relevant information to the Russian peacekeeping command in Stepanakert.
“The Command of the Artsakh Republic Defense Army calls on the Azerbaijani side to adhere to the agreements reached and to refrain from further steps aimed at escalating the situation,” said the defense ministry.
Artsakh’s Human Rights Defender Gegham Stepanyan said that the existence of Azerbaijani military positions near Armenian villages poses a threat to physical security of civilians.
Stepanyan met with with community heads and residents of Berdashen, Ashan, Nor Shen, Hatsi, Avdur, Myurishen villages of Martuni region to become acquainted with the situation facing the border-region areas.
“It is necessary to take steps to improve the security of the civilian population, in particular, to remove the positions of the Azerbaijani armed forces from the neighboring areas,” Geghamyan said in a Facebook post on Tuesday. of peaceful settlements.”
“The presence of Azerbaijani positions in the vicinity of the communities poses serious problems for the employment of the villagers and the realization of the right to decent work. These problems are expressed in different ways: in one case the villagers refused to cultivate their lands for security reasons, in the other case they suffered losses during cattle breeding when cattle cross into the territories under the control of Azerbaijan. Such cases have been reported in almost all communities,” Stepanyan explained.
“All efforts should be made by the state and local self-government bodies to improve the quality of life and living conditions., paying special attention to, among other issues, the problems with water supply in Nor Shen, Avdur and Murishen communities. These communities are almost completely deprived of water,” added Stepanyan.
