Baku - Yerevan - SANA
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev announced today that his country's forces have tightened control over the strategic city of Shusha in the disputed Nagorno Karabakh region, which was denied by Armenian officials.
RT website quoted Aliyev as saying in a televised speech that “the Azerbaijani flag is flying over Shusha,” adding .. Shusha has been liberated .. I congratulate the entire Azerbaijani people for this achievement.
Aliyev pointed out that since the beginning of the current round of escalation in Karabakh, the Azerbaijani forces have tightened their control over more than 200 towns in the disputed region, stressing that "the war will continue until complete victory," as he described it.
On the other hand, Armenian officials denied that the Azerbaijani president declared control of the city, which is located 15 kilometers south of Stepanakert, the capital and largest city of Karabakh province.
Earlier in the day, the Armenian Ministry of Defense confirmed that violent and decisive battles are taking place for the control of the strategic town, which was previously described by the President of the internationally unrecognized Karabakh Republic, Aryk Harutyunyan, as the heart of Armenians.
It is noteworthy that armed clashes have erupted between the Armenian and Azerbaijani forces since the 27th of last September on the line of contact in Nagorny Karabakh and the adjacent areas in the most dangerous escalation between the two parties in nearly three decades, amid mutual accusations of starting the fighting.