Azernews.Az

By Vafa Ismayilova

Baku dismissed as fake Armenian reports alleging that Azerbaijani army units opened fire in the direction of Arazdayan settlement.

"The unfounded information spread by the Armenian side about the alleged firing by Azerbaijani Army units in the direction of the Arazdayan settlement is untrue and absolutely fake," the Defence Ministry reported on October 15.

The ministry stressed that by spreading fake information of this kind, "Armenia is trying to prepare the ground for next provocations".

"We officially declare that the units of the Azerbaijani army will resolutely suppress any provocations," the ministry said.

Earlier on October 15, the Azerbaijani army thwarted an Armenian terrorist and sabotage act in Karabakh temporarily controlled by Russian peacekeepers.

On the morning of October 15, members of an illegal Armenian armed group used an ambulance in an attempt to commit a terrorist attack against the Azerbaijani army units in the direction of Aghdara. The attempt was suppressed and the gunmen in the car were forced to retreat.

The Defence Ministry described as unacceptable the use of a civilian ambulance for military purposes, a method that is specific to terrorists, saying that it is a gross violation of international humanitarian law.

The ministry stressed that any terrorist and subversive activities will be prevented immediately and decisively.

Several provocations have been observed over the past days by the Armenian groups illegally located in Karabakh under the Russian peacekeepers' temporary control.

Azerbaijani army soldier Afgan Hamzayev was martyred as a result of sniper fire opened by illegal Armenian armed groups at about 1815 on October 14.

On October 14, Azerbaijan downed an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) of illegal Armenian armed detachments on its territory under the Russian peacekeepers' control. The UAV tried to carry out reconnaissance flights over the positions of the Azerbaijan army in the direction of liberated Fuzuli region.

At about 1400 on October 13, an Azerbaijani civilian convoy moving from Tartar region's Sugovushan settlement to Kalbajar to build civil infrastructure there was fired on by illegal Armenian armed groups located in the area controlled by the Russian peacekeepers.

As a result of the incident, the front, rear, wheel and movement mechanisms of the car, which belonged to the Azerbaijani army's military police moving in front of the convoy were damaged. No casualties were reported among the Azerbaijani personnel.

The Defence Ministry described as unacceptable the fact that a civilian convoy, which carried materials for the reconstruction in the liberated lands and escorted by Russian peacekeepers, was fired on by illegal Armenian armed groups.

The ministry appealed to the Russian peacekeeping command temporarily stationed in a certain part of Azerbaijan’s Karabakh Economic Region and the Russian-Turkish Joint Monitoring Center to investigate the incident.

About 2,000 Russian peacekeepers have been deployed for five years in Karabakh under the trilateral cease-fire deal signed by Baku, Moscow and Yerevan on 10 November 2020. The signed agreement obliged Armenia to withdraw all its troops from the Azerbaijani lands that it had occupied since the early 1990s.

The deal also stipulated the return of Azerbaijan's Kalbajar, Aghdam and Lachin regions. Before the signing of the peace deal, Azerbaijan liberated 300 villages, settlements, city centers, and historic Shusha city that had been under Armenian occupation for about 30 years.

On August 11, 2021, Azerbaijan urged the Russian peacekeepers to end the illegal deployment of Armenian troops on Azerbaijan’s territories under their temporary control.

Later on August 14, President Ilham Aliyev reiterated that Azerbaijan had identified that Armenian troops were being sent to Karabakh via the Lachin corridor that is controlled by the Russian peacekeepers and stressed that this contradicted the 10 November deal.

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