Azerbaijani army deals big blows to Armenian troops in occupied regions
As Azerbaijan’s military advances against the Armenian forces to liberate the occupied areas, international actors reiterate calls for a cease-fire
AZERBAIJANI troops yesterday continued to inflict heavy blows to the Armenian military amid ongoing border clashes between the two countries in the conflict over the Armenian-occupied Nagorno-Karabakh region. Azerbaijani artillery destroyed the command and observation zone of the Armenian Army’s Fifth Destroyer Regiment, one tank and three guns, Baku’s Defense Ministry said in a statement yesterday. It added that the Azerbaijani Armed Forces were continuing combat operations in various directions of the front to expand its achievements from the last few days. The Armenian Army opened fire on the villages of Tartar, Barda, Aghdam, Agjabedi, Fuzuli and Jabrayil in the morning, and the Azerbaijani military responded accordingly, according to another ministry statement. Separatist Armenian groups in the region said yesterday they had recorded another 40 casualties among its military, pushing the military death toll to 280 since fighting with Azerbaijani forces erupted on Sept. 27. Armenian forces also reportedly launched a missile attack Tuesday on the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) oil pipeline amid the regional conflict with Azerbaijan. Azerbaijani prosecutors said Armenian forces carried out the attack, which was prevented by the Azerbaijani army, on the pipeline in Yevlakh.
“ARMENIA has fired a cluster rocket at the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline.
In the vicinity of the Yevlakh region, a rocket landed 10 meters (11 yards) away from the pipeline,” Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev’s aide Hikmet Hajivev said in a tweet late Tuesday as local media reported that a resident of the Goranboy district had been killed due to the explosion of the internationally banned bomb. “300+ cluster bomblets ejected around. No damage to the pipeline. ANAMA is in operation,” Hajiyev said, referring to the Azerbaijan National Agency for Mine Action.
He described the attack as “desperate attempts of Armenia to attack energy infrastructure.”
Meanwhile, local news outlet news.az reported that 144 exploded 9N235 bombs, as well as 300 unexploded M85 bombs, had been found.
“We would like to note that these bombs were included in the class of prohibited ammunition in 2008 in line with the Convention on Cluster Ammunition (CCM),” ANAMA was quoted saying on the news site.
The BTC pipeline delivers Azerbaijani light crude oil through Georgia to Turkey’s Mediterranean port of Ceyhan for export via tankers.
Azerbaijan described the attack as a “terrorist act” and highlighted the pipeline’s important role in Europe’s energy security.
Ongoing clashes began Sept. 27, when Armenian forces targeted civilian Azerbaijani settlements and military positions in the region, leading to casualties.
Relations between the two former Soviet republics have been tense since 1991, when the Armenian military occupied Nagorno-Karabakh, an internationally recognized territory of Azerbaijan.
Multiple United Nations resolutions, as well as international organizations, demand the withdrawal of the invading forces.
The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Minsk Group, co-chaired by France, Russia and the U.S., was formed in 1992 to find a peaceful solution to the conflict but to no avail. However, a ceasefire was reached in 1994.
Many world powers, including Russia, France and the U.S., have called for an immediate cease-fire. Turkey, meanwhile, has supported Baku’s right to self-defense.
Most recently, Russian leader Vladimir Putin yesterday reiterated his call for the fighting to stop, calling the events a tragedy and expressing Moscow’s concern.
RUSSIA NOT TO DEFEND ARMENIA
Russia does not have an obligation to defend Armenia, as its conflict with Azerbaijan is not being waged in Armenian territory, Putin also said.
Armenia hosts a major Russian military base near the western city of Gyumri near the border with Turkey.
Russia’s TASS news agency also said yesterday Azerbaijani President Aliyev had spoken with Putin over the phone to discuss the latest developments in the region.
Aliyev said that his country would return to talks with Armenia after the acute phase of military conflict in the Nagorno-Karabakh region ends, Russian news agency TASS cited him as saying.
Aliyev also said in an interview with the Russian public broadcaster that Turkey had the right to participate in mediation.
In another statement, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani yesterday warned of the danger of the Azerbaijan-Armenia conflict turning into a regional war amid speculations that Tehran is supporting separatist Armenian forces in their fight against Baku’s military. “We must be careful that the war between Armenia and Azerbaijan does not become a regional war,” he said in televised remarks.
“Peace is the basis of our work and we hope to restore stability to the region in a peaceful way,” Rouhani added, claiming Iran would not allow “states to send terrorists to our borders under various pretexts.”
Iran has previously drawn fire from the country’s ethnic Azerbaijani Turks for its alleged support to separatist forces illegally occupying Azerbaijan’s territory, as military equipment has reportedly been transferred through the Iran-Azerbaijan border.
FRENCH ARMENIANS IN REGION
Meanwhile, French media reported yesterday that scores of Armenians living in France have arrived in the illegally occupied Azerbaijani territory of Nagorno-Karabakh to fight alongside Yerevan forces.
“Armenians from France are starting to arrive in Armenia to fight the Azerbaijani army on the Nagorno-Karabakh front,” Georges Malbrunot, a senior reporter of French newspaper Le Figaro said in a tweet.
“An AFP dispatch dated from Yerevan recounts the journey of one of them, who came from Strasbourg,” he said, citing a reporter of
the French news agency Agence France-Presse (AFP). It was revealed recently that in addition to mercenaries from abroad, Armenia also uses PKK terrorists in its fight to continue the illegal occupation of Azerbaijani territories.
The Azerbaijani intelligence agency also revealed an intercepted dialogue between two PKK militants who came to the area to fight for Armenian separatists.