Azerbaijan repels Armenian attacks along frontline
By Aisha Jabbarova
Armenian armed forces fired at Azerbaijani positions and human settlements on October 26 and 27 in violation of the recently-agreed humanitarian cease-fire, the Defence Ministry has reported.
Combat operations continued mainly in the Khojavend, Fizuli, and Gubadli directions of the front. Armenian troops withdrew suffering losses in Azerbaijan’s counteroffensive.
During the operations, Armenian troops suffered losses in terms of manpower and military equipment.
As a result of the actions taken by the Azerbaijan Army, the command post of the 18th motorized rifle division of the Armenian armed forces was destroyed. Colonel Sergei Shakaryan, the chief of staff of the division was among the dead.
Destroyed military equipment
A large number of Armenian forces, as well as 1 - T-72 tank, 4 - D-30 and 3 - D-20 howitzer-guns, 1 - “OSA-AKM” anti-aircraft missile system, 1 - BM-21 "Grad" MLRS, 1 - radar station, and 6 - auto vehicles were destroyed in different directions of the front.
It should be noted that Armenia violated the US-brokered truce shorty after it went into effect on October 26.
The US-mediated cease-fire agreement was announced on September 25 following the Azerbaijani and Armenian foreign ministers’ meetings with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and entered force as of 8 a.m. on October 26.
This is the third humanitarian cease-fire that was agreed since the escalation of the tension on September 27.
The two previous truce agreements that had been brokered by Russia, were also violated by Armenian few hours after they went into effect on October 10 and October 17 respectively.
Armenian armed forces launched a large-scale operation in the front-line zone on September 27 at 6 am, shelling the positions of the Azerbaijani army from large-calibre weapons, mortars, and artillery installations of various calibres. Armenia has been targeting Azerbaijan’s densely populated areas and infrastructure projects.