Artsakh urges UN to investigate the accusations on use of phosphorus

On May 17, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry made a statement accusing the Armenian side of the alleged use of prohibited ammunition, particularly shells with white phosphorus, during the military operations on April 2-5.

According to NKR Foreign Ministry statement disseminated in UN, Arsakh is ready to host a special monitoring mission for an on-site study of all the facts and investigation of the circumstances of the aggression unleashed by Azerbaijan on April 2-5, as well as the violations of the norms of international humanitarian law committed during that period.

“Falsification and distortion of the reality have long become regular, constituting an integral part of Azerbaijan's foreign policy”, the statement reads.

Artsakh’s Foreign Ministry recalls that back in 1992, the Azerbaijani side made similar accusations of the alleged use of chemical weapons, which were then denied by the UN special fact-finding mission. In subsequent years, the Azerbaijani side has been making similar absurd and unconfirmed accusations.

“Resurrecting its old allegations, Azerbaijan does not only try to justify its policy of use of force and denial of full and strict compliance with the ceasefire agreements of 1994 and 1995, on which the OSCE Minsk Group Co-chair countries insist, but also aims to distract the attention from the real war crimes committed by the Azerbaijani army against the military servicemen and civilian population of the NKR. In this regard, we call on the international community to treat the unfounded statements of the Azerbaijani side with utmost criticism”, NKR Foreign Ministry statement reads.