STEPANAKERT, Artsakh (A.W.)— On July 5, Lieutenant-General Levon Mnatsakanyan, Commander of Artsakh’s Defense Army, refuted Baku’s statements accusing the Armenian side of shelling peaceful settlements and killing innocent civilians.
Levon Mnatsakanyan (Photo: Photolure)
Mnatskanyan noted that the Artsakh Defense Army has never initiated any attack but has instead retaliated any provocations by Azerbaijan. He added that the statement by Azerbaijan regarding the death of civilians on July 4 was nothing more than a “cynical attempt to disorient the international community at the expense of the blood of innocent citizens.”
“The Defense Army of Artsakh never chose peaceful settlements as targets, which is inherent in our enemy. The target of our attacks was, and will continue to be, exclusively those military facilities, from where the enemy is firing the Armenian positions,” said Mnatskanyan. “It is unfortunate that the military-political leadership of Azerbaijan considers it natural to place its fire installations in peaceful settlements, and the practice of carrying off offensive actions from these firing points towards Artsakh positions.”
Lieutenant-General Mnatsakanyan also stressed that the placement of military facilities near villages by Azerbaijan is a gross violation of international law. He then called on the Azerbaijani forces to refrain from military action and to seek a solution around the negotiating table.
“Since the April aggression up to now, we have repeatedly drawn attention to the fact that the Azerbaijani side, in violation of all the norms of international humanitarian law, does not disdain to use its civilian population as a human shield for shelling the territory of Artsakh,” read part of a statement released by the Artsakh Foreign Ministry on July 5.
The statement also stressed the importance of the agreements reached at the summits of May 16, 2016 in Vienna and of June 20, 2016 in St. Petersburg aimed at the stabilization of the situation at the Line of Contact (LoC).