The capital of the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh was once again the target of bombardments on Friday (October 16), as heavy fighting raged on the front lines and Azerbaijan claimed responsibility for the capture of new territory.
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A series of explosions was heard in the night from Friday to Saturday in Stepanakert, as well as anti-aircraft alerts, according to an AFP correspondent on the spot.
A high representative of Nagorno Karabakh, Artak Beglarian, told him on Friday evening on Twitter that Stepanakert had been hit by "
heavy missiles
".
The city has been bombed numerous times since hostilities resumed between Yerevan-backed separatist forces and Azerbaijani soldiers on September 27.
The bombardments have almost emptied it of its inhabitants.
Since the conclusion of a "
humanitarian
"
truce
signed on October 10 in Moscow, supposed to make it possible to exchange the bodies of dead soldiers and prisoners, the situation had remained calm in Stepanakert until Thursday and new bombings.
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Elsewhere on the front, fighting continued, with Azerbaijan and Armenia accusing each other of violating the ceasefire and targeting civilian areas.
Azerbaijani soldiers advanced north and south of the front line, taking up positions in Karabakh and two districts that had been under Armenian control since the end of a first war in 1994. A spokesman for the Armenian Ministry of Defense , Artsroun Hovhannisian, said on Friday that Azerbaijani forces had switched to a "
large-scale offensive
" after "
long bombardments
" in the north and west of Nagorno-Karabakh.
He said the Armenian army had repelled these attacks in the north, while "
difficult fighting
" continued in the south.
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliev said on Friday that Baku had taken over three villages in the Khojavend region.
Since the resumption of hostilities, Armenia and the separatists have repeatedly denied the seizures announced by Azerbaijan.
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian, however, admitted on Thursday that separatist fighters had been forced to withdraw from certain positions.