Azerbaijan, Baku, 5 March / corr Trend E.Huseynli / The head of the Azerbaijani community of the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan considers the intensive violation of the ceasefire regime on the frontline is provocation by the Armenian Government.
"The Armenian Government provoked the violation of the ceasefire regime along the frontline
Because of internal political tension in the country, by deviating from the pressures from the international community and directing attention to other developments," Nizami Bahmanov, the head of the Azerbaijani community of Nagorno-Karabakh, told Trend on 5 March.
Starting in the early hours of 4 March, shooting began on the frontline of the Armed Forces of Azerbaijan and Armenia in the occupied territory of Azerbaijan in several directions.
The Azerbaijani Defense Ministry said that during the gun fire with Armenia, 12 Armenian soldiers were killed and 15 more were injured, whereas four Azerbaijani soldiers were killed and injured.
At present the situation on the frontline is stable.
The conflict between the two countries of the South Caucasus began in 1988 due to Armenian territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Since 1992, Armenian Armed Forces have occupied 20% of Azerbaijan including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and its seven surrounding districts. In 1994, Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement at which time active hostilities ended. The Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group ( Russia, France, and the US) are currently holding peaceful negotiations.