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Monday, 05 October 2020 (YJC)_ Azerbaijan's second-largest city has been hit by heavy shelling.
Azerbaijan's second-largest city, Ganja, has been hit by heavy shelling today as the country's forces exchanged heavy rocket and artillery fire with Armenia over disputed territory.
Fighting over Nagorno-Karabakh has intensified between the two nations' forces in the last week, with the breakaway region's capital and Azerbaijan's Ganja both hit today.
Armenia said that Nagorno-Karabakh's main city Stepanakert, which has been under shelling since Friday, was hit again today with regular explosions and clouds of black smoke rising in parts of the city.
Azerbaijan's defence ministry said meanwhile that Armenian forces had shelled Ganja, a city of more than 330,000 in western Azerbaijan, with footage showing buildings in ruins.
The two sides accused each other of targeting civilian areas, as the conflict widened a week after heavy fighting broke out in the decades-old dispute over the ethnic-Armenian region.
More than 220 people are thought to have died in the conflict during the past week.
Armenia and Azerbaijan have resisted international calls for a ceasefire and clashes have intensified in recent days, with both sides claiming victories on the front and saying they are inflicting heavy losses.
In a fiery address to the nation, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev set conditions for a halt to the fighting that would be near-impossible for Armenia to accept.
He said that Armenian forces 'must leave our territories, not in words but in deeds' and provide a timetable for a full withdrawal.
Yerevan must also recognise the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, apologise to the Azerbaijani people and admit that the region is not part of Armenia, Aliyev said.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov expressed concern over 'the increase of casualties' among civilians in a call with his Armenian counterpart on Sunday.
Armenia has said it is 'ready to engage' with mediators but Azerbaijan - which considers Karabakh under Armenian occupation - says Armenian forces must fully withdraw before a ceasefire can be brokered.
Karabakh's declaration of independence from Azerbaijan during the collapse of the Soviet Union sparked a war in the early 1990s that claimed 30,000 lives.
Talks to resolve the conflict have made little progress since a 1994 ceasefire agreement.
Source: Daily Mail
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