BAKU, Azerbaijan, Oct. 31
Trend:
The Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces, President Ilham Aliyev has repeatedly stated that Azerbaijan has no military targets on the territory of Armenia, Assistant to the President of Azerbaijan - Head of the Foreign Policy Affairs Department of the Presidential Administration Hikmet Hajiyev said, Trend reports.
"The Azerbaijani Army is only restoring the territorial integrity of our country within the internationally recognized state borders of Azerbaijan," Hajiyev said.
He noted that the civilian population and civilian facilities in Azerbaijan’s Ganja, Mingachevir, Tartar, Barda, Goranboy, Aghdam, Agjabadi, Naftalan, Dashkasan, Gabala, Kurdamir, Siyazan, Khyzy and in other Azerbaijani cities and districts, were subjected to bombing and shelling with the use of ballistic missiles, as well as with prohibited by international human rights organizations the cluster shells, from the territory of Armenia and from the occupied territories of Azerbaijan.
"As a result of these missile attacks, 91 civilians were killed, including 11 children and 27 women, and over 400 civilians were injured. Moreover, positions of the Azerbaijani army are regularly bombarded from the territory of Armenia with the use of heavy artillery, ballistic and tactical missiles, multiple launch missile systems, cluster shells and other weapons. This is unacceptable," Hajiyev added.
Armenian Armed Forces launched a large-scale military attack on positions of 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. Currently, Azerbaijan continues the liberation of its territories from Armenian troops.
Back in July 2020, Armenian Armed Forces violated the ceasefire in the direction of Azerbaijan's Tovuz district. As a result of Azerbaijan's retaliation, the opposing forces were silenced. The fighting continued the following days as well. Azerbaijan lost a number of military personnel members, who died fighting off the attacks of the Armenian Armed Forces.
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, 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.