Nagorno-Karabakh accuses Azerbaijan of a shelling attack on fire fighters

The Azerbaijani side set fire to a field with grass and then opened fire on a team of Karabakh fire fighters, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) of Nagorno-Karabakh reports today.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that Armenia and Azerbaijan periodically blame each other of shelling. Thus, in the evening on August 17, it became known that an Armenian serviceman was wounded as a result of shelling from Azerbaijan in Gegarkunik.

The fire on the border broke out on August 17, the MoD of Nagorno-Karabakh reports today. “At about 8:40 p.m., as a result of shots from the Azerbaijani side, a fire broke out on a three-hectare field near the southwestern border of the Republic of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh). A team of fire fighters drove to the scene to extinguish the fire. However, the Azerbaijani armed forces opened fire on the fire fighters and thus prevented the extinguishing of the fire,” the MoD of Nagorno-Karabakh reports in its message posted on the official website.

The Armenian side did not suffer losses, and the information about the incident was reported to the commanders of the Russian peacekeeping contingent, the MoD of Nagorno-Karabakh reports on the official website.

“Only after the intervention of the Russian peacekeeping contingent, the shelling attack from the Azerbaijani side was stopped, and the fire fighters were able to extinguish the fire,” the “Caucasian Knot” correspondent was informed by Unan Tadevosyan, the chief of the press service for the State Service for Emergencies of Nagorno-Karabakh. According to Unan Tadevosyan, “the situation on the section of the border in question is relatively calm.”

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on August 18, 2021 at 01:03 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.