Azerbaijan, Baku, August 8 /Trend, I.Izzet/
A tense situation is being observed on the border between Azerbaijani and Armenian troops, head of the Defence Ministry press service, Colonel Eldar Sabiroglu told Trend on Thursday.
"The situation has escalated recently. An intensive exchange of fire is taking place. The Armenian Armed Forces have violated the ceasefire agreement on the border between the troops. Azerbaijani servicemen are giving a fitting rebuff to the enemy. To date, the situation is such that there's an exchange of fire every day and both sides suffer loses and are injured," he said.
According to Sabiroglu, this is not first time and the Armenian party seeks to use it for provocative purposes.
"Similar cases have a systematic character and are not associated with any significant dates. Such exchanges are conducted between the troops all year-round becoming more intense. This means that the enemy, that's to say the Armenians do not sleep. They violate the ceasefire agreement and then try to accuse the Azerbaijani Armed Forces of this which they reflect in their reports submitted to international organisations. This is one of the facts which proves the cunning of the Armenians," the head of the press service stressed.
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan.
Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 per cent of Azerbaijan since 1992, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.
Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, Russia, France and the U.S. are currently holding peace negotiations.
Armenia has not yet implemented the U.N. Security Council's four resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding regions.