Azerbaijan's military command is using civilians as human shields and makes provocations on the Line of Contact with the Karabakh forces, says the Defense Ministry of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic. The Ministry says Baku has shifted to a new tactics. In particular, after the oral arrangement of ceasefire, the Azerbaijani authorities deliberately escalate the situation through regular provocations, on the one hand, and present this as consequences of alleged aggression by the Karabakh side, on the other hand. To implement their goals, the Azerbaijani side resorts to the most flagrant and mean methods. "The adversary deployed artillery and armored forces in the populated areas near the border and targets Armenian positions and civilians overwhelmingly at night hours. Hiding in the rear of civilians for a long time already, the Azerbaijani command uses civilians as human shields to do their dirty deeds," the Ministry says in the statement. In the light, the NKR Defense Ministry recommends the adversary to respect the ceasefire arrangement that was made at their request and not to turn populated areas into firing points and therefore targets. "Otherwise, the military and political leadership of Azerbaijan will be responsible for the consequences," the statement reads.