Rapprochement of Azerbaijani and Armenian military positions is caused by defence of pre-border villages

The new militaries' positions on Azerbaijani-Armenian border have strengthened the protection of the Azerbaijani village of Ikindji Shikhli and the Armenian dwelling settlement of Chinari, which came under fire, Baku and Yerevan experts believe.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on August 14, Azerbaijani border guards took up new positions on the neutral strip of the Armenian border in the Gazakh District.

According to Uzeir Djafarov, the head of the NGO "Military Journalists", in early August, Azerbaijani border guards established their control over four heights on Mount Babakar. In his opinion, this territory belongs to Azerbaijan. In the early 1990s, when Azerbaijan had no regular army yet, a neutral zone was formed in this border section, and, subsequently, the Armenian Army did not allow Azerbaijan to take control over this section, Mr Djafarov has stated.

Azerbaijani border guards have taken up new combat posts on the neutral strip of the border with Armenia, which will allow them to control not only the Armenian posts, but also access roads to them, and eliminate the threat of Armenia's shelling attacks on Azerbaijani settlements, including the village of Ikindji Shikhli, the expert said.

The new combat posts occupied by Armenian militaries on the border with Azerbaijan provide the Armenian side with the opportunity to suppress fire during shelling of border villages, the Armenian military experts interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent believe.

Thus, Leonid Nersisyan, a military observer and the chief editor of the magazine "New Defence Order. Strategies", has pointed out that there are border sections, where the opponents came together to fantastically close distances, say, 30-40 meters. According to the available information, the height near the Armenian border village of Chinari, taken under control by Armenia's militaries, will allow to completely controlling this section of the border with Azerbaijan, the military observer has added.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on August 20, 2019 at 10:53 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.