Nagorno-Karabakh’s de facto Emergency Service said that Shushi, a town some 10 kilometers to the south of Stepanakert, was also under intensive fire last night.
“As a result of rocket fire several residential houses were burned in Shushi. There is also destruction in the capital [Stepanakert]. Rescue services are working on the spots,” the body reported in the morning.
An RFE/RL Armenian Service correspondent in Stepanakert has confirmed the deaths of three civilians in the city, reporting at least a dozen explosions heard in the area last night.
Meanwhile, Azerbaijan also reported shelling of its populated areas by ethnic Armenian forces. The country’s Defense Ministry said that the town of Tartar and nearby villages came under fire on Friday morning.
Both sides deny they target civilian populations in the ongoing conflict.
Meanwhile, the two sides again gave different accounts of the developments along the frontlines in the morning.
Armenia-backed ethnic Armenian forces in Nagorno-Karabakh claimed to have conducted “effective defensive battles”, stopping attacks by Azerbaijani armed forces at several major sectors of the frontline. Meanwhile, Azerbaijan claimed its armed forces have been on the offensive in several directions, causing Armenian forces to retreat.
On November 5, Nagorno-Karabakh’s de facto ethnic Armenian leader Arayik Harutiunian said he had visited Shushi (Shusha), a strategic town sitting on a mountaintop and overlooking the region’s capital Stepanakert, to meet with defenders of the town and discuss “the strategy of the struggle against the numerous forces of the enemy.”
As Azerbaijani forces were reportedly closing in on Shushi, Harutiunian said that “all possible efforts are being exerted to keep the fortress town impregnable.”