Azernews.Az

By Trend

Member of Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia (ASALA) terrorist group Gilber Minasyan is again taking part in fighting against Azerbaijan, Trend reports.

Minasyan, who was sentenced to life imprisonment for participation in the group’s operations, escaped to Armenia from France’s Marseille in the late 1980s, to take part in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Having got acquainted with Leonid Azkhaldian in Yerevan, he became one of the initiators of creating Independent Armenian Army. Minasyan, who later mastered the secrets of military affairs under the command of Azkhaldian and became the commander of the army, was going under the name 'Hovsep Hovsepyan'. Along with him, there were several citizens of France fighting on Armenia's side against Azerbaijan.

After Azkhaldian died from a bullet wound in 1992, Minasyan took over. On April 1, 1993, he and 107 more Armenians entered the occupied Kalbajar district of Azerbaijan for the first time. A year later, after the announcement of the ceasefire, he returned to Yerevan. After waiting a while, he returned to France on the basis of a power of attorney.

Re-arrested in France in 2004, Minasyan, having received his passport after nine years of imprisonment, returned to Marseille.

Having learned about the latest hostilities between Armenia and Azerbaijan, he again came to Armenia, and immediately went to the frontlines, and currently is fighting against Azerbaijan.

Armenian Armed Forces launched a large-scale military attack on positions of the Azerbaijani army on the front line, using large-caliber weapons, mortars, and artillery on Sept. 27.

Azerbaijan responded with a counter-offensive along the entire front. As a result of retaliation, Azerbaijani troops liberated a number of territories previously occupied by Armenia, as well as take important, strategic heights under control.

The fighting continued into October 2020, in the early days of which Armenia has launched missile attacks on Azerbaijani cities of Ganja, Mingachevir, Khizi as well as Absheron district.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.

The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on the withdrawal of its armed forces from Nagorno Karabakh and the surrounding districts.

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