TODAY.AZ / Politics

Azerbaijan's Defense Ministry: Armenian military units suffer heavy losses in August

03 September 2015 [17:43] - TODAY.AZ

/By AzerNews/

By Aynur Karimova

Armenian military units have suffered heavy losses in August during confrontations on the contact line of Armenian and Azerbaijani troops, Azerbaijan's Defense Ministry reported.

"According to the information, only in August, the enemy had lost 18 of its soldiers and about 50 were injured," the ministry told APA.

The Defense Ministry reported on September 3 that the Armenian Armed Forces violated the ceasefire with Azerbaijan – along numerous positions using mortars and heavy machine guns – a total of 174 times in just the last 24 hours. The opposing side was silenced with return fire.

"Taking into account the operational situation, the Azerbaijani Armed Forces inflicted 236 strikes on enemy positions," the ministry reported.

The situation along the contact line of Armenian-Azerbaijani troops remains tense despite a ceasefire agreement that the sides signed in 1994.

The Armenian Armed Forces, which occupies the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan and seven surrounding regions, has recently intensified ceasefire breaches.

Frequent ceasefire violations aggravate the situation, leaving the Azerbaijani army no choice but to retaliate.

The Personal Representative of OSCE and Chairman-in-Office, Andrzej Kasprzyk, who met with Armenian First Deputy Minister of Defense Davit Tonoyan on September 2, has also expressed concern over the frequent ceasefire violations on the frontline and the use of large-caliber weapons.

Armenia and Azerbaijan fought a lengthy war that ended with the signing of a fragile ceasefire in 1994. More than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed and over 1 million were displaced as a result of the large-scale hostilities. Since the war, the Armenian Armed Forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan's territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding regions.

Armenia continues the occupation in defiance of four UN Security Council resolutions calling for immediate and unconditional withdrawal of armed forces.

Peace talks brokered by mediators from Russia, France, and the U.S. have yet to produce any results.

URL: http://www.today.az/news/politics/143412.html

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