Baku, Azerbaijan, Jan.26
By Ilkin Izzet - Trend:
Azerbaijani armed forces prevented a number of provocations of reconnaissance and sabotage groups of Armenian armed forces and eliminated 17 Armenian servicemen in January, a message posted on the website of Azerbaijani Defense Ministry said.
Armenian armed forces, which have suffered heavy losses in recent days on the territory of the occupied Nagorno-Karabakh, staged a more aggressive provocation once again due to the serious failures, said Azerbaijani Defense Ministry.
"The attempts of sudden attacks of reconnaissance and sabotage groups of Armenian armed forces on Azerbaijani positions on the contact line of Azerbaijani and Armenian armies were successfully prevented," said the message.
"Azerbaijani armed forces eliminated 17 Armenian servicemen and injured up to 20 in January," said the Defense Ministry. "Three Azerbaijani servicemen were killed and several more were injured while preventing the Armenian provocations."
Azerbaijani Defense Minister Colonel General Zakir Hasanov signed a decree conferring posthumous 3rd degree Medal "For Distinction in Military Service" upon the killed Azerbaijani servicemen.
Azerbaijan's defense minister expresses condolences to the families of the killed servicemen, said the message.
The information spread by Armenian media about the alleged heavy losses of the Azerbaijani side is absolutely untrue, it is disinformation and doesn't reflect the real situation on the contact line, Azerbaijani Defense Ministry said.
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 two countries signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, Russia, France and the US are currently holding peace negotiations.
Armenia has not yet implemented the UN Security Council's four resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding regions.
Edited by SI