Armenian bullet victimizes one more Azerbaijani soldier

By AzerNews

The Armenian armed forces have once again escalated the tensions on the frontline by killing another Azerbaijani soldier.

"Violating the ceasefire regime on June 15, the Armenian armed forces shot dead a junior sergeant of the Azerbaijani Army, 20-year old Samandar Karimov," Azerbaijani Defense Ministry reported on June 16.

Karimov was awarded with the third class medal "For distinguished military service" (posthumously) at the order of Defense Minister Colonel-General Zakir Hasanov.

The Defense Ministry expressed its deepest condolences to the parents and relatives of the killed soldier.

The situation on the contact line between Azerbaijan and Armenia has remained tense as the Armenian armed forces violated the ceasefire a total of 22 times on June 15 and 16.

The ceasefire was violated in Gorgan, Garakhanbayli, Ashagi Seyidahmadli villages of Fuzuli region, Yusifjanli, Marzili, Bash Garvand villages of Agdam region, Kuropathkino village of Khojavand region, Mehdili village of Jabrayil region and nameless hills of Gazakh region on June 15 and on the night of June 16. The Armenians were silenced with a retail fire.

Following the frequent ceasefire violations, the OSCE mission is expected to hold a monitoring operation along the contact line of Armenian and Azerbaijani troops in the Mezem village of Azerbaijan`s Gazakh region on June 17 under the mandate of special envoy of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office.

Azerbaijan`s Defense Ministry said the monitoring operation will be held by field assistants of the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office Hristo Hristov and Peter Svedberg on the Azerbaijani side.

From the opposite side, the monitoring operation will be conducted by field assistants of the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office Yevgeny Sharov and Jiri Aberle.

As a result of Armenian sabotage on the frontline, three soldiers of Azerbaijan's armed forces were killed in late May-early June.

The Armenian armed forces have intensified ceasefire violations on the contact line between Armenian and Azerbaijani troops since the beginning of 2014. As a result of ceasefire breaches, several Azerbaijani soldiers were shot dead.

Armenia captured Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding districts from Azerbaijan in a war that followed the Soviet breakup in 1991. More than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed and nearly 1 million were displaced as a result of the war.

Large-scale hostilities ended with a Russia-brokered ceasefire in 1994, but Armenia has continued the occupation in defiance of four UN Security Council resolutions calling for their immediate and unconditional withdrawal.

Peace talks mediated by Russia, France, and the U.S. have produced no results so far.