Posted on 12/10/2015 10:55:00 AM PST by Freeport
Azerbaijani tanks on Wednesday shelled positions in the breakaway Nagorny Karabakh region for the first time in more than 20 years, the rebel defence ministry said, as Armenia arrested a former army officer accused of spying for its archfoe.
Armenia and Azerbaijan fought a bloody conflict over the disputed Nagorny Karabakh territory in the 1990s before reaching a tenuous ceasefire in 1994 but they have not signed a peace deal and clashes erupt regularly.
The ethnic Armenian enclave in Azerbaijan enjoys the backing of the Armenian authorities.
"For the first time since the ceasefire, Azerbaijan has used tanks on the Karabakh frontline," killing one soldier, the rebel defence ministry said in a statement.
"Some 1,500 shots were fired from tanks and grenade-launchers," the statement added.
Azerbaijan offered a different version of events, saying Armenia had fired mortar rounds at settlements in Azerbaijan.
The defence ministry in Baku warned it would launch retaliatory strikes on "enemy" army positions in Nagorny Karabakh, close to the frontier.
"The regime in Armenia bears responsibility for all of this," Azerbaijan's defence ministry said in a statement.
In Washington, the US State Department condemned the violence and urged all sides to adhere to the ceasefire.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
A 1500 shell barrage, and only one dead? Story doesn’t pass the smell test.
Turkish/Russian proxy war?
Can someone explain who are the good guys and the bad guys here? Or if there are any?
Those Darned Tanks. Firing shells! 1500 of ‘em!
Quick Ma, we need Tank Control!
Armenia is usually associated with Christians...
Armenia was the world’s first Christian nation.
They have allowed the Russians to base a few helicopters there. About a week ago, the Russians moved several more aircraft in.
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