File photo of the conflict Photograph:( AFP )
The city is of cultural and strategic importance to both countries and is located 15 km south of Stepanakert, Nagorno-Karabakh's largest city
Azeris celebrated in country's capital Baku after Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev said on Sunday that Azeri forces had captured second-largest city in Nagorno-Karabakh. The claim has been denied by Armenian officials.
"(This day) will become a great day in the history of Azerbaijan," Aliyev said after ge announced capture of the city of Shusha, also called Sushi by Armenia.
The city is of cultural and strategic importance to both countries and is located 15 km south of Stepanakert, Nagorno-Karabakh's largest city.
At least 1000 people have died in fighting that has gone on for nearly six weeks in and around Nagorno-Karabakh.
Nagorno-Karabakh is internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan but has ethnic Armenian population.
In Baku, Azeris gathered in large numbers to celebrate, waving flags and chanting slogans, while drivers sounded their car horns.
Officials from the Nagorno-Karabakh region and Armenia`s Defence Ministry denied Aliyev`s statement.
"Shushi remains an unattainable pipe dream for Azerbaijan. Despite heavy destruction, the fortress city withstands the blows of the enemy," the Nagorno-Karabakh Rescue Service said.
Armenia`s defence ministry said that heavy fighting for the strategic site continues, while the Defence Army of Nagorno-Karabakh said they had repelled multiple attempts by the Azeri side to advance on the town.
Emboldened by Turkish support, Azerbaijan has the upper hand in the bloodiest fighting in more than 25 years in the South Caucasus. In just over a month, it has retaken much of the land in and around Nagorno-Karabakh that it lost in a previous war over the territory in the 1990s.
The city could serve as a key staging post for an Azeri assault on the enclave`s largest city, Stepanakert. Both have come under heavy shelling in recent days. Azerbaijan`s defence ministry said allegations that it had shelled civilian areas were `misinformation`.
The town is also culturally significant to both sides, Thomas de Waal, analyst at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said.
Its population was predominantly made up of Azeris before the previous conflict, making it historically significant for Azerbaijan. For Armenians, it is the site of Karabakh`s cathedral, de Waal said.
(With Reuters inputs)