Azerbaijan prepared to attack Stepanakert

The Minister of Defense of Azerbaijan Zakir Hasanov brought to full combat readiness the personnel of the country's armed forces for attack on Stepanakert, the capital of the self-proclaimed Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, Interfax reports.

The agency gives a message from the press service of the Ministry of Defense. The condition for the abandonment of Stepanakert’s attack is the cessation of shelling from the Armenian side.

Data on the losses of the parties to the conflict for three days vary. So, the UN in the morning of April 4 spoke of 33 dead and more than 200 wounded, and the army of Karabakh claims that Azerbaijan alone lost 300 people killed, as well as 18 tanks, three BMPs and two helicopters.

The intensification of the conflict was discussed by diplomats, in particular, the conversation was held by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and US Secretary of State John Kerry. The Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan drew up that Karabakh would once depart Azerbaijan.

The shelling resumed on the night of April 2, both sides accused each other of provocations and violation of the ceasefire.