BAKU, Azerbaijan, Oct.17
Trend:
The operational situation in the Agdere-Aghdam and Fuzuli-Hadrut-Jabrayil directions of the front remained tense on October 16 and on the night of October 17, Trend reports citing the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry.
According to the ministry, as a result of actions taken by the Azerbaijani army at different directions of the front a large number of manpower, seven T-72 tanks, two units of BM-21 Grad MLRS, 8 D-30 and 1 D-20 howitzers-guns, 10 trucks with ammunition and 7 vehicles of the Armed Forces of Armenia were destroyed and disabled,” noted the ministry.
As reported, as a result of hostilities the 1st battalion of the 5th motorized rifle division of Armenian Armed Forces, leaving its positions and a large number of killed and wounded soldiers, retreated.
Armenian Armed Forces launched a large-scale military attack on positions of the Azerbaijani army on the front line, using large-caliber weapons, mortars, and artillery on Sept. 27.
Azerbaijan responded with a counter-offensive along the entire front. As a result of retaliation, Azerbaijani troops liberated a number of territories previously occupied by Armenia, as well as take important, strategic heights under control.
The fighting continued into October 2020, in the early days of which Armenia has launched missile attacks on Azerbaijani cities of Ganja, Mingachevir, Khizi as well as Absheron district.
Following almost two weeks of intensive military confrontations, Armenia and Azerbaijan, with Russia's mediation, have agreed on a temporary ceasefire for humanitarian purposes, for exchange of prisoners of war as well as bodies of the dead.
Despite the ceasefire, the Armenian Armed Forces made a missile attack on civilians in the central part of Ganja city on October 17, as a result of which 12 people died, more than 40 people were injured, and a great number of civilian infrastructure facilities and vehicles were heavily damaged.
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, the 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 the withdrawal of its armed forces from Nagorno Karabakh and the surrounding districts.