Armenian forces spark tensions on border areas
By Sara Rajabova
The Armenian armed forces keep escalating tensions along the contact line between troops of Armenia and Azerbaijan by continuously targeting Azerbaijani forces and civilians.
The situation was particularly alarming on night from July 31 to August 1 as the Armenian armed forces killed two Azerbaijani soldiers and attempted to cross the contact line.
"During the past 24-hour, Armenian armed forces violated the ceasefire regime in different directions of the contact line 71 times," Defense Ministry said.
The Armenian forces targeted the positions of Azerbaijani army in the direction of Gazakh, Agstafa, Tovuz, Gadabay, Aghdam, Tartar, Fuzuli and Jabrayil regions. The enemy was forced to sit back with Azerbaijani army's retaliatory fire.
"The Armenian armed forces violated the ceasefire once again on July 31and fired on the positions of the Azerbaijani forces at 17:00 p.m.," the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry reported on July 31.
As a result of violating the ceasefire, an Azerbaijani soldier from Aghdam region - the twenty-two-year-old Garyagdy Ahmadov- was killed by the enemy sniper.
Furthermore, violating the ceasefire once more at 20:00 p.m. in the direction of Azerbaijan's Gazakh region, the Armenian armed forces killed another Azerbaijani soldier named Isa Almasov.
Meanwhile, Armenian reconnaissance and sabotage groups tried to cross the contact line of the Azerbaijani and Armenian troops in Aghdam and Terter regions from July 31 to August 1, the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry reported.
Having suffered heavy losses the Armenian reconnaissance and sabotage groups retreated.
The Azerbaijani forces also suffered losses.
The Armenian armed forces have intensified the ceasefire violations on the contact line of Armenian and Azerbaijani troops during the recent days.
Meanwhile, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) will monitor the contact line of troops on August 1.
The monitoring will be held under the mandate of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office Personal Representative, on the contact line located near the village of Kuropatkino of Azerbaijan's occupied Khojavend region.
The precarious cease-fire between Azerbaijan and Armenia was reached after a lengthy war that displaced over a million Azerbaijanis and has been in place between the two South Caucasus countries since 1994.
Since the hostilities, Armenian armed forces have occupied over 20 percent of Azerbaijan's internationally recognized territory, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.
The UN Security Council has adopted four resolutions on Armenia's withdrawal from the Azerbaijani territory, but they have not been enforced to this day.