Baku, Azerbaijan, Apr. 8
Trend:
Azerbaijan's Defense Ministry has dismissed the recent Armenian media reports, which said that allegedly an Azerbaijani unmanned aerial vehicle was downed over the city of Khankendi, located in the Azerbaijani lands occupied by Armenia.
"The Armenians are so scared and panicked that they see a threat to themselves everywhere," said the Defense Ministry in a statement Apr. 8. "The Armenians, haunted by Azerbaijan's special forces and combat aircraft everywhere, are now reporting about Azerbaijani drones flying over the occupied lands."
The ministry added that every time an international delegation arrives in Khankendi, the Armenian side resorts to frauds by presenting a drone, which allegedly belongs to the Azerbaijani side and was downed by their forces, and asks for help.
"Disseminating such false and unfounded information, the Armenian side is seeking to mislead representatives of international organizations and community to pave a way for future provocations," added the Defense Ministry.
On the night of April 2, 2016, all the frontier positions of Azerbaijan were subjected to heavy fire from the Armenian side, which used large-caliber weapons, mortars and grenade launchers. The armed clashes resulted in deaths and injuries among the Azerbaijani population. Azerbaijan responded with a counter-attack, which led to liberation of several strategic heights and settlements.
Military operations were stopped on the line of contact between Azerbaijani and Armenian armies on Apr. 5 at 12:00 (UTC/GMT + 4 hours) with the consent of the sides, Azerbaijan's Defense Ministry earlier said. Ignoring the agreement, the Armenian side again started violating the ceasefire.
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.