YEREVAN (Sputnik) – The Armenian Defense Ministry said Azeri Armed Forces on Monday fired at the country’s border.
“Azerbaijani Armed Forces late Sunday and early Monday fired 17 times toward the northeastern state border with Armenia… Heavy weapons including mortars were used. The shots from the Azerbaijani side were mostly chaotic,” the Armenian Defense Ministry’s press service said.
The ministry added that the Armenian Army controlled the situation at the border and resorted to responsive measures only when strictly necessary.
Earlier in the day the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry’s press service reported Armenian Armed Forces had violated the ceasefire along the line of contact in Nagorno-Karabakh 117 times over the last 24 hours.
On April 5, Armenia and Azerbaijan agreed on a bilateral ceasefire in Nagorno-Karabakh, which came into force at noon on the same day.
Azerbaijan does not recognize the ethnically Armenian self-proclaimed Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR) and considers the Nagorno-Karabakh Defense Army to be a part of the Armed Forces of Armenia.
On April 2, Armenia and Azerbaijan declared a dramatic escalation of hostilities in the Nagorno-Karabakh region. Baku and Yerevan traded blame for breaching the truce in the conflict and reported heavy fighting in the area.
On Sunday, the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic's Defense Ministry told RIA Novosti that the Azerbaijani forces had violated the ceasefire in the breakaway region, adding that the Nagorno-Karabakh forces "mostly refrained from response actions."
