Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 8
Trend:
The Azerbaijani armed forces prevented another Armenian diversion, the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry said in a message Feb. 8.
The Armenian armed forces were shooting at the positions of the Azerbaijani army from different directions along the line of contact by using mortars, large-caliber machine guns Feb. 7 beginning from 16:55 (GMT+4), the ministry said.
The Armenian armed forces tried to use the ceasefire as distraction, while carrying out a diversion in the other direction in the Nagorno-Karabakh, the message said.
According to the ministry, the Azerbaijani army detected Armenia’s actions in advance and retaliated. The Armenian side had to retreat, suffering losses.
"The Azerbaijani armed forces suffered no losses,” the message said. “The situation along the line of contact is fully controlled.”
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, in 1992 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 withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.