/By Azernews/

By Nazrin Gadimova

The situation on the contact line of Azerbaijani and Armenian troops has remained tense as the Armenian Armed Forces shattered ceasefire a total of 116 times throughout the day.

Azerbaijan’s Defense Ministry reported that the enemy shelled Azerbaijani positions using 60, 82 and 120-millimeter mortars, grenades and large caliber guns.

The Armenian military units fired at the Azerbaijani positions located in the villages of Gizilhajili and Gushchu Ayrim (Gazakh region), villages of Alibeyli and Kokhanebi (Tovuz region), as well as the nameless heights of Gadabay region.

Given the operational situation, Azerbaijani Armed Forces inflicted 122 strikes upon Armenian positions.

Armenia breached a Russia-brokered ceasefire agreement on April 24. Over the next five days, Armenian military forces breached truce and shelled both Azerbaijani positions and villages neighboring the frontline by using heavy artillery and prohibited weapons.

One resident of Azerbaijan’s Agdam region, which is adjacent to the front-line area, was killed, while eight injured on April 28.

Ragub Mammadov, the head of executive authority of the region, has today informed that one of those eight wounded – a resident of the Chamanli village, Ali Huseynov, died in the hospital as a result of his injuries. Health state of the second wounded, Elnur Mammadov, is also critical.

Mammadov added that health state of the rest wounded is serious, but stable, as doctors say that there is no threat to their lives.

The Armenian militaries also destroyed dozens of houses, a secondary school and other social facilities, while private farms and property of the population were seriously damaged in the mentioned settlements, as well as in the villages of Gapanli, Hasangaya, Gaziyan and Gaynag of Azerbaijan's Terter region.

The prosecutor’s offices in the Agdam and Terter regions have initiated criminal cases upon the abovementioned facts.

Considering the situation, Azerbaijan’s State Commission on Prisoners of War has informed the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) of these acts that are contrary to the norms of international law and rules of war, and called on the Armenian side to avoid doing these actions.

Moreover, Azerbaijan's Foreign Ministry has sent letters to the UN and OSCE urging the heads of international organizations to strongly condemn Armenia for violating the ceasefire agreement and to demand Armenia’s complying with the undertaken commitments and withdraw its troops from the occupied territories of Azerbaijan.

Azerbaijan’s Defense Ministry, in turn, said that in case Armenia continues shelling Azerbaijani settlements, the Azerbaijani Armed Forces will inflict retaliatory strikes on Armenia’s military facilities located in residential areas.

Armenia captured 20 percent of Azerbaijan’s internationally recognized territories as a result of 1992-94 war. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations and signing of another agreement on truce in 1995. However, Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.