Chinari village
(Armradio)- The Azerbaijani military has fired three 120mm mortar shells at the Armenian town of Chinari in the Tavush Province.
“One of the shells has hit a civilian house, two hit the yard. There are no losses”, the Ministry of Defense spokesperson Shushan Stepanyan said on Facebook.
Earlier the Armenian defence ministry said that Azerbaijani troops had fired seven 82mm mortar shells at Chinari.
The situation at the border escalated when the Azerbaijani troops attempted to violate the Armenian state border midday July 12 by driving a personnel carrier vehicle into the territory. The Armenian military issued a warning, after which the Azerbaijani troops left the vehicle and retreated. However, shortly afterwards the Azerbaijani troops launched an attack and attempted to capture the Armenian military position by using artillery fire. Azerbaijani troops suffered losses and were repelled. The same Armenian position once again came under artillery and tank fire from Azerbaijani hours later.
In the morning of July 13, the Azerbaijani military again started to shell the Armenian positions.
The Armenian authorities have notified the OSCE and the CSTO about the Azerbaijani aggression.
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan strictly condemned Azerbaijan’s provocative actions and said that the entire responsibility for the unpredictable consequences of regional destabilization will fall on the leadership of Azerbaijan.
The Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) Secretary-General Stanislav Zas has initiated an emergency session of the Permanent Council to discuss the situation.
The Russian foreign ministry announced that further escalation which threatens regional security is inadmissible.