Azernews.Az

By Aisha Jabbarova

Azerbaijan has thwarted a provocation attempt by the sabotage-reconnaissance group of the Armenian armed forces, the Defence Ministry reported.

The incident occurred in the direction of the Goranboy district of the front on August 23 at about 05:45.

The Armenian group retreated, suffering losses, the ministry said. During the battle, the commander of the Armenian sabotage group, according to the initial interrogation, First Lieutenant Gurgin Alberyan was taken prisoner.

The ministry reiterated that the military-political leadership of Armenia bears all responsibility for the aggravation of the situation at the front.

It should be noted that Armenia has stepped up its military provocation recently, staging sabotage both on the border and on the line of contact. On July 12, Armenian forces shelled Azerbaijan's positions in Tovuz, Azerbaijan's strategically-important district on the border. The Armenian attack killed 12 Azerbaijani servicemen, including an army general, as well as a 76-year-old civilian. Armenian forces retreated after suffering losses in Azerbaijan's retaliation.

Azerbaijan and Armenia are locked in a conflict over Azerbaijan’s Nagorno-Karabakh breakaway region, which along with seven adjacent regions was occupied by Armenian forces in a war in the early 1990s. More than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed and around one million were displaced as a result of the large-scale hostilities.

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