Having suffered heavy losses along the front line, Armenian armed forces are responding with shelling Azerbaijani residential areas along the contact line of troops in “retaliation” for their failures, the Defense Ministry said.

“Acting inhumanly, the Armenian side provokes Azerbaijan to take counter measures despite the continuous warnings made by Azerbaijan's Defense Ministry to the Armenian side," said the message. "Azerbaijan once again calls on Armenia to respect the international law and norms and stop the use of lethal force against civilians”.

Azerbaijani Defense Minister ordered the Armed Forces to stand ready to launch devastating strikes on Khankendi.

"Azerbaijan's Defense Ministry has tasked all the types of the armed forces, including the rocket and artillery troops, to be ready to carry out crushing strikes from all heavy combat weapons on the Khankendi city and other occupied settlements, if the Armenians don't stop shelling Azerbaijani settlements in a short time," said the message.