An Artsakh soldier

Azerbaijani armed forces violated the line of contact near the village of Parukh in Artsakh’s Askeran region, authorities said on Thursday.

According to the government, representatives of the Artsakh Defense Army and the Russian peacekeeping contingent in Artsakh are attempting to prevent, through negotiations, the further advance of the Azerbaijani troops and return them to their original positions.

As a safety precaution, women and children in the village of Khramort in Artsakh’s Askeran region have been evacuated.

“We call on the population to remain calm, the situation is stable in all other parts of the line of contact,” the Artsakh authorities said.

For already a month, Azerbaijani forces have been shelling the Khramort and other neighboring villages a mere 500 meters away from homes. They have been using loudspeakers to terrorize the farmers, ordering them to evacuate or else they will use force, Artakh’s foreign minister, David Babayan, told Armenpress.

He said that Azerbaijan is attempting to terrorize the population.