BAKU, Azerbaijan, Mar. 16
Trend:
The Armenian army was waiting for us in a different direction, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev said during a visit to Fuzuli and Khojavand districts, Trend reports.
“Hadrut settlement was liberated on 9 October. The liberation of Hadrut was possible due to a very successful military operation. First, the surrounding heights were taken. After the heights around Hadrut were taken over by the Azerbaijani Army, control over it passed to the Azerbaijani Army and the liberation of Hadrut settlement was already inevitable. I should also note that the Armenian civilian population living here was evacuated as a result of a military operation. I can say that during the 44-day war as a whole, the losses among Armenian civilians were quite small because the Azerbaijani Army has never waged a war against the civilian population. Unlike the Armenians, during the war, we fought only against military units, defeated them, and drove them out of our lands. As for the civilian population, according to Armenian statistics, about 40 civilians were killed during the war. The vast majority of them were civilians involved in military operations,” the head of state said.
“The liberation of the Hadrut settlement was a very important operation. The liberation of Hadrut after Jabrayil district and the city of Jabrayil was an event of special importance for the continuation of our military operations,” the Azerbaijani president said.
“I must also say that the city of Fuzuli was liberated after Hadrut – on 17 October. The Armenian army was waiting for us in a different direction. However, following the rules of war and proper strategic planning, we liberated Hadrut after Jabrayil and then Fuzuli,” the head of state said.