The Azerbaijani side deliberately aggravates the situation at the line of contact, the NKR Defense Ministry said in a statement today.

The rival used artillery weapons of different caliber as it fired more than 850 shots in the direction of the Armenian positions on March 8 and 9.

The front divisions of the NKR Defense Army gave a worthy response and confidently continued with their military duty all along the line of contact, the Ministry said.

“Ignoring the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs’ calls to implement confidence-building measures, the Azerbaijani side not only continues to deliberately aggravate the situation at the line of contact, but also disseminates misinformation, accusing the Armenian forces of opening fire at the civilian population,” the statement reads.

The NKR Defense Ministry declared that it respects the peaceful population of Azerbaijan, which has been forced to bear the heavy burden of the Aliyev regime in the course of 20 years.