BAKU / YEREVAN: Azerbaijan it said on Sunday that Armenian forces had fired rockets at its second city of Ganja, killing one civilian and wounding four, and threatened to retaliate by destroying military targets inside Armenia.
The events marked a sharp escalation of the war in the South Caucasus that broke out a week ago.
Until now, the main fighting has been between Azerbaijan and Nagorno-Karabakh, an ethnic Armenian enclave within Azerbaijan, but now it threatens to escalate into direct war with Armenia itself.
“Azerbaijan will destroy military targets directly inside Armenia from where shelling of its population centers is taking place,” said Presidential Aide Hikmet Hajiyev.
He said there were also civilian casualties in another Azeri region, Beylagan, which borders Nagorno-Karabakh.
Armenia denied directing fire “of any kind” towards Azerbaijan. The Nagorno-Karabakh leader said his forces had attacked a military air base in Ganja, but then stopped firing to avoid civilian casualties.
The conflict threatens to drag out other regional powers, as Azerbaijan has the support of Turkey, while Armenia has a defense pact with Russia. Turkey’s Foreign Ministry said: “The Armenian attacks on civilians in Ganja … are a new manifestation of the illegal attitude of Armenia. We condemn these attacks.”
The fight spreads
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said on Twitter that his forces had captured the city of Jabrail and several villages in what, if confirmed, would be a significant advance in the southern tip of Nagorno-Karabakh.
Armenian Defense Ministry spokeswoman Shushan Stepanyan dismissed the claim as “just another invention.” An independent verification was not possible.
Nagorno-Karabakh reported deaths and casualties among civilians in Stepanakert and Shushi as a result of the Azeri bombardments.
The fighting that broke out a week ago between Azerbaijani and ethnic Armenian forces has intensified in the past two days and has spread far beyond the breakaway Karabakh region.
Ganja, with a population of 335,000, is located about 100 km (60 miles) north of Karabakh’s capital, Stepanakert, and 80 km from the Armenian city of Vardenis.
Azerbaijan has previously accused Armenia of firing at its territory from Vardenis, and Yerevan he has denied it. Armenia says two civilians were killed in and near Vardenis last week by cross-border fire from Azerbaijan.
Armenia says that Azerbaijan has used Ganja airport as a base for its warplanes to carry out bombings in Nagorno-Karabakh.
Nagorno-Karabakh leader Arayik Harutyunyan said his forces would attack Azerbaijani cities.
“Permanent military units located in the big cities of Azerbaijan from now on will become targets of the defense army,” he said.
Numerous casualties
Casualties from last week’s fighting have risen to the hundreds, although precise figures are impossible to obtain.
Armenia said the Karabakh cities of Stepanakert and Martakert were under attack by Azerbaijani air force and long-range missiles. Each side accused the other of attacking civilians.
Ignoring the calls of Russia, America, France and the EU to call for a ceasefire, opposing sides have escalated hostilities over the weekend, with increased aggressive rhetoric.
Armenia said on Saturday it would use “all necessary means” to protect ethnic Armenians from Azerbaijan’s attack, and its prime minister compared the fight to a war against the 20th century. Ottoman Turkey.
Azerbaijan said on Saturday that its forces had captured a number of villages. Armenia acknowledged that ethnic Armenian fighters were under pressure in some places and said the situation on the ground was fluctuating.
The clashes are the worst since the 1990s, when some 30,000 people were killed. They have raised international concerns about stability in the southern Caucasus, where pipelines carry Azerbaijani oil and gas to world markets.
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