Azerbaijani Troops Violate Line of Contact in Artsakh

STEPANAKERT — Azerbaijani armed forces violated the line of contact in the direction of the village of Parukh in the Askeran region of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) at 4 p.m. on Wednesday, the Artsakh Information Center reported.

It said representatives of the Artsakh Defense Army and Russian peacekeeping forces stationed in Artsakh are trying through negotiations to suspend further advances of the enemy and return them to their initial positions.

No information about any fighting or casualties was immediately reported in the context of the incident. But authorities in Stepanakert said that women and children of the nearby village of Khramort had been evacuated for security reasons.

“We urge the population to remain calm, the situation in all other sections of the line of contact is stable at the moment,” the Center said.

Later on Thursday, Artsakh Information Center reported that the situation in the direction of Parukh and Khramort is under the control of the Russian peacekeeping troops stationed in the Artsakh Republic.

As a result of negotiations and additional security measures, the movement of the Azerbaijani armed forces in the territory of Artsakh has been stopped, but the enemy has not yet returned to the starting positions.

Meanwhile, the Armenian Foreign Ministry issued a statement, saying that “Azerbaijan’s aggressive actions once again show that official Baku continues to grossly violate the terms of the November 9, 2020 trilateral statement [on ceasefire].”