Azerbaijan`s armed forces close to the contact line of troops were instructed to give an adequate response to Armenia`s aggressive actions, Vagif Dargahli, spokesman for Azerbaijan`s defense ministry, told reporters in the country`s Aghdam district Apr. 29.

He added that Azerbaijan will inflict retaliatory strikes on Armenia`s firing points on the frontline.

Since April 26 Armenian armed units have been violating the ceasefire at nights in order to cause numerous losses among Azerbaijani civilians, Dargahli said.

He said that Armenians fired at Azerbaijani settlements using mainly mortars, howitzers and BM-21 multiple rocket launchers.

Dargahli added that the situation on the frontline is stable, and the armed forces of Azerbaijan are controlling the operational situation.

On Apr. 29, a group of journalists, consisting of representatives of foreign media accredited in Azerbaijan, and the local media, visited the Garadaghli village of Azerbaijan`s Agdam district, which was shelled by the Armenian side from April 27 evening until April 28.

In the village the journalists surveyed the houses, which were destroyed by heavy artillery attacks and met with the village`s residents.

Starting from April 27 evening until 04:00 (GMT + 4) April 28, the Armenian armed forces were firing at the Azerbaijani settlements and the Azerbaijani army positions in the Terter and Aghdam districts of Azerbaijan.

Two people were killed and many more wounded as a result of the Aghdam shelling. At least 84 houses in the district were heavily damaged, some of them completely destroyed.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations.

Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.

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