Azerbaijan's provocations predictable for Armenia: Defense Ministry

March 11, 2016 - 17:15 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net - Azerbaijani Defense Ministry claims about Karabakh soldiers’ death on the contact line are completely false, a spokesperson for Armenia’s Defense Ministry said Friday, March 11, according to RFE/RL Armenian Service.

Baku declared Friday that Karabakh forces have launched a subversive attack in the Akna direction of the contact line. The Azerbaijani side said it “destroyed several Armenian positions,” with the Karabakh side “losing military equipment and 10-15 servicemen.”

“Armenia’s Defense Ministry has already refuted the information,” Artsrun Hovhannisyan said. “It’s astonishing how the Azerbaijani authorities’ imagination was previously limited to 3-4 casualties, whereas they now speak of 10-15 deaths.”

Dwelling upon the intense situation on the contact line, Hovhannisyan noted: “We had earlier warned that Azerbaijan escalates the situation before or during any high-level meeting. A subversive attack and abrupt increase in the number of shots fired from various caliber weapons were recently reported.”

The Armenian side, as usual, operates in accordance with its plan, taking preventive, retaliatory measures, he stressed.

Azerbaijani armed forces initiated a subversive attack Thursday, at around 11:20 pm.

Having timely identified the rival groups, Karabakh Defense Army units took retaliatory measures to throw the saboteurs back to their positions, with at least two Azeris killed and several wounded.

No casualties were registered on the Karabakh side.

On the night of March 10-11, the rival also violated the truce, firing over 5500 shots from various caliber firearms, 60- and 82-mm mortars, as well as RPG-7 and AGS-17 grenade launchers.

Besides, Azeri troops have used howitzer-type cannons. It is noteworthy that the rival not only bombed the Armenian positions deployed in the Akna direction, but, for the first time since the 1994 ceasefire agreement went as far as to open fire on areas, situated quite deep behind the frontline.