Armenian Armed Forces Committed Large-Scale Provocations in Dashkasan, Kalbajar, and Lachin Directions

During the night of September 12, the Armenian armed forces units committed large-scale provocations in the Dashkasan, Kalbajar, and Lachin directions of the Azerbaijani-Armenian state border.

At night, the sabotage groups of the Armenian armed forces using the mountainous terrain of the area and the existing ravine gaps mined the territories and supply roads between the positions of the Azerbaijan Army Units in different directions.

The confrontation occurred as a result of urgent measures taken by the Azerbaijan Army Units in order to immediately suppress these actions. The Armenian armed forces stationed in the directions of Basarkechar, Istisu, Garakilsa, and Gorus settlements using various caliber weapons and mortars subjected to intensive fire in some positions, shelters, and strongholds of the Azerbaijan Army in the territory of Dashkasan, Kalbajar and Lachin regions. As a result, there were losses among the military personnel, the military infrastructure was damaged.

The Azerbaijan Army Units deployed in these directions took decisive retaliatory measures in order to suppress provocations committed by the Armenian armed forces and military threats to the territory and sovereignty of Azerbaijan, to ensure the safety of the military personnel, including civilian workers involved in infrastructure work in the territory of Kalbajar and Lachin regions. Necessary measures were taken to suppress the shooting positions of the Armenian armed forces and to prevent the expansion of the scale of the confrontation. There were losses among the manpower and combat equipment of the Armenian armed forces involved in sabotage operations.

In general, over the past month, provocations of the Armenian armed forces in the direction of Lachin, Gadabay, Dashkasan and Kalbajar regions of the state border, cases of shelling of the positions of the Azerbaijan Army in the territory of these regions using various caliber weapons were of intensive and systematic nature. At the same time, it was being observed that Armenia concentrated offensive weapons, heavy artillery, and military personnel along the borders of Azerbaijan. All these facts once again demonstrate that Armenia was getting prepared for a large-scale military provocation. By taking such actions, Armenia was also aiming to slow down the implementation of large-scale civil infrastructure projects carried out by Azerbaijan in the border areas liberated from occupation and to maintain a tense atmosphere near Azerbaijan’s borders.

The Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Azerbaijan declared that the military-political leadership of Armenia bears the entire responsibility for the provocations, confrontation, and losses.