April 2, 2016 - 21:57 AMT
Neither side will benefit from large-scale war in Karabakh: CSTO

The Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) carefully studies the developments on the contact line between Nagorno Karabakh and Azerbaijan, the CSTO Secretary-General said, according to Panorama.am.

"The CSTO Secretariat is closely following the situation on the contact line," Nikolay Bordyuzha said. "Such combat actions could lead to a large-scale war which wouldn't benefit anyone. The position of the CSTO member countries has been repeatedly stated: we call for cessation of hostilities and a negotiated settlement to the conflict."

On the night of April 1-2, Azerbaijani armed forces initiated overt offensive operations in the southern, southeastern and northeastern directions of the line of contact with Nagorno Karabakh, using artillery, armored fighting vehicles and air force equipment among other weapons.

Aside from the battles on the frontline, the rival has also carried out artillery strikes on civilian settlements and places of permanent deployment of several military units.

On April 2, at around 8:30 am, the rival used BM-21 Grad multiple rocket launcher in the Martuni direction of the contact line. 12-year-old Vaghinak Grigoryan was killed in the shelling, two more children were wounded.

Earleir, the Nagorno Karabakh special forces identified an Azerbaijani subversive group near the Levonarkh settlement and threw the saboteurs back to their positions.

According to Armenia’s Defense Ministry, the rival troops retreated after suffering several human losses.

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