Armenian Defense Ministry spokesman Artsrun Hovhannisyan on Wednesday refuted Azerbaijan's claims about destroying several BM-21 Grad multiple rocket launchers belonging to the breakaway republic of Nagorno-Karabakh
YEREVAN (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 01st October, 2020) Armenian Defense Ministry spokesman Artsrun Hovhannisyan on Wednesday refuted Azerbaijan's claims about destroying several BM-21 Grad multiple rocket launchers belonging to the breakaway republic of Nagorno-Karabakh.
Earlier in the day, Baku said its forces had destroyed eight Armenian Grads.
"This is an absolute lie," Hovhannisyan said.
The seeds of the current conflict were sown in the early 1920s when the Soviet government attached the majority-Armenian Nagorno-Karabakh as an autonomous area to the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic.
In 1988, the Armenian population began clamoring for being transferred under Armenian jurisdiction, ushering the current crisis. Following the armed struggle in 1992-1994, Baku lost control of the breakaway republic and seven adjacent districts. There has been an attempt to facilitate a peaceful settlement of the conflict under the auspices of the OSCE Minsk Group, co-chaired by Russia, France and the United States.
The most recent round of the crisis started last Sunday when Armenia and Azerbaijan both claimed the other side had engaged in provocation on the line of contact. Both sides began mobilizing their forces soon after that.
According to Nagorno-Karabakh, more than 100 of its soldiers have already died in combat.
