"Armenia has fired a cluster rocket at the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline. In vicinity of Yevlakh region, a rocket landed 10 meters away from the pipeline," Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev's aide Hikmet Hajivev said in a tweet late Tuesday as local media reported that a resident of the Goranboy district had been killed due to the explosion of the internationally banned bomb.
"300+ Cluster bomblets ejected around. No damage to the pipeline. ANAMA is in operation," Hajiyev said, referring to the Azerbaijan National Agency for Mine Action.
"Desperate attempts of Armenia to attack energy infrastructure," the aide concluded.
Meanwhile, local news outlet news.az reported that 144 exploded 9N235 bombs, as well as 300 unexploded M85 bombs, had been found.
“We would like to note that these bombs were included in the class of prohibited ammunition in 2008 in line with the Convention on Cluster Ammunition (CCM),” ANAMA was quoted as saying on the news site.
The BTC pipeline delivers Azeri light crude oil through Georgia to Turkey's Mediterranean port of Ceyhan for export via tankers.
Azerbaijan described the attack as a "terrorist act" and highlighted the pipeline's important role in Europe's energy security.
Armenia has launched missile attacks targeting civilian settlements in Azerbaijan shortly after it resumed attacks in the occupied Nagorno-Karabakh area.
Border clashes broke out last week when Armenian forces targeted Azerbaijani civilian settlements and military positions, leading to casualties. Azerbaijan's parliament declared martial law in certain cities and regions following Armenia's border violations and attacks in Nagorno-Karabakh.
Relations between the two former Soviet nations have been tense since 1991 when the Armenian military occupied Nagorno-Karabakh.
Four U.N. Security Council (UNSC) and two U.N. General Assembly (UNGA) resolutions, as well as many international organizations, have demanded the withdrawal of the occupying forces.
