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AZERBAIJAN was accused of war crimes by Armenia yesterday after Azeri forces reportedly targeted a hospital in the mainly ethnic Armenian enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh, where battle continues to rage.
Armenian government spokeswoman Shusan Stepanyan said: “The armed forces of Azerbaijan have targeted one of the hospitals in Artsakh where civilians also receive medical treatment.
“This is a violation of the humanitarian ceasefire and a gross violation of international humanitarian law.”
Azeri forces have previously been accused of using banned cluster bombs in its assault on Nagorno-Karabakh, which lies within the borders of Azerbaijan.
An Amnesty International report confirmed that cluster bombs had been used in an attack on the region’s capital Stepankert.
The fighting began last month, with Azerbaijan accused of wanting to ethnically cleanse Nagorno-Karabakh of ethnic Armenians.
The dispute over the region dates back to before Armenia and Azerbaijan became Soviet republics in the 1920s and erupted again as the USSR began to fall apart in the late 1980s.
A six-year war ended in 1994 and the Armenian majority voted to join Yerevan in a referendum boycotted by Azerbaijan.
It was revealed yesterday that Turkey had increased arms supplies to Baku, with sales of drones and other military equipment rising to $77 million (£58m) last month alone.
Ankara has also been accused of sending thousands of jihadist mercenaries to Azerbaijan, including fighters from various factions of the Free Syrian Army.