Explosions rocked parts of Nagorno-Karabakh early Wednesday, a day after Azerbaijani forces launched heavy artillery fire on Armenian positions in the separatist region that local officials said killed or wounded scores of people. Azerbaijan has called the artillery fire an “anti-terrorist operation” and said it will continue until the separatist government of Nagorno-Karabakh dismantles itself and “illegal Armenian military formations” surrender. It said it is only targeting military sites, but significant damage was visible on the streets of the regional capital, Stepanakert, with shop windows blown out and vehicles punctured apparently by shrapnel. The blasts reverberated around Stepanakert every few minutes.
