Stepanakert, Azerbaijan, Oct 11 (AFP/APP):Guennadi Avanessian had a big two-storey house at 28 Saroyan Street, with a wooden terrace and vines laden with dark grapes. But his comfortable middle-class home in a well-off street in the capital of war-hit Nagorno-Karabakh region has been smashed to pieces during the conflict between neighbouring Azerbaijan and Armenia. “I spent two years renovating this house with my own hands, and (Azerbaijani president) Aliyev destroyed it in two seconds with his bombs,” Avanessian rages to anyone who will listen from behind his moustache. With a blue hat on his head, the 70-something clambers onto the huge heap of debris that is all that remains after the gutted house collapsed in on itself. With a shovel, he searches through the twisted sheet metal, bits and pieces of the home’s structure and traces of his former life. Azerbaijani forces bombarded the area a week ago, and it is the first time Avanessian has returned. He is looking to scrape together whatever can be salvaged during a lull in the fighting after a ceasefire came into force on Saturday at noon. “I was here when the rocket came down. I heard a whistle and I rushed into the … Continue reading In war-hit Karabakh capital, residents inspect destroyed homes