14:11, 31 July 2019

Azerbaijan claims shelling attacks on four villages

Military vehicles of the Azerbaijani Army. Photo: https://mod.gov.az/ru/foto-arhiv-045/?gid=21985

The positions of the Azerbaijani army were shelled, including in the villages located in the regions bordering Armenia, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) for Azerbaijan reports today.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on July 30, Azerbaijan also claimed shelling attacks in the border areas and registered 19 violations of the ceasefire regime. In its turn, on July 28, the Armenian MoD announced the death of a contract soldier, Arman Bulgadaryan, and the wounding of another contract serviceman, Vladimir Osipyan, from the shots fired by Azerbaijani militaries.

"Units of the armed forces of Armenia used sniper rifles and 18 times violated the ceasefire regime in various directions of the front within 24 hours," the Azerbaijani MoD reports on its website today.

According to the Azerbaijani MoD, the positions of the Azerbaijani army were shelled in the villages of Guschu Airym and Mezem and at the nameless heights in the Gazakh District, in the village of Asrik Djyrdakhan in the Tovuz District and in the village of Geyali in the Gadabay District.

As at 9:50 a.m. Moscow time on today, the Ministries of Defence for Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh have not posted on their websites any comments on the statement released by the Azerbaijani MoD.

After the escalation of the Karabakh conflict in April 2016, the parties agreed on the ceasefire. Despite the agreement, over two years, the parties claimed daily shelling attacks in the conflict zone, as it follows from the infographic "Karabakh after the truce: a two-year war" prepared by the "Caucasian Knot". After the meeting of officials from the Ministries of Foreign Affairs (MFA) of Armenia and Azerbaijan, held on June 20, Azerbaijan stated an almost complete cessation of shelling attacks; however, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) of Nagorno-Karabakh continues to register violations of the ceasefire.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on July 31, 2019 at 10:01 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.