Armenia and Azerbaijan exchange accusations of ecological terror

The Azerbaijani militaries have used phosphorus ammunition to set fire to forests, where civilians of Nagorno-Karabakh are hiding from shelling, the Ombudsperson of Armenia has stated. After the shelling by the Armenian party, forests in the Goranboy District have caught fire, the Azerbaijani Ministry of Defence (MoD) has reported.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that in the morning on October 26, a new agreement on a humanitarian truce in the Karabakh conflict zone entered into force, but already during the first hours after, the parties exchanged accusations of violating the truce.

Azerbaijan is using phosphorus ammunitions to set fire to forests located near civilian settlements in Nagorno-Karabakh, Arman Tatoyan, the Armenian Ombudsperson, has written in his Facebook page on October 30. According to his story, many civilians are hiding in these forests from shelling during the day and at night.

Mr Tatoyan has noted that the ammunition, which has the nature of mass destruction, "is used against the civilian population and against the environment, which falls under the explicit ban of the international law," the Ombudsperson said in his statement translated by the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

In its turn, the Azerbaijani Ministry for Emergencies (MfE) announced a fire in the forests in the Goranboy District. The fire broke out due to the shelling of the area from heavy artillery by the Armenian militaries, the MoD has stated.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on October 31, 2020 at 04:58 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.