Azernews.Az

By Ayya Lmahamad

French nationals of Armenian origin are among mercenaries fighting within the Armenian army, Presidential Aide Hikmat Hajiyev wrote on his official Twitter page on October 8.

Hajiyev made the remarks while commenting on the report by Russia’s Novaya Gazeta newspaper where the reporter who was in Nagorno-Karabkh had recorded the fact of French-Armenian mercenaries fighting against Azerbaijan.

“Report of journalist proves that French nationals of Armenian origin are in the ranks of Armenia’s forces as mercenaries attacking Azerbaijani civilians/mercenaries. Instead of accusing Azerbaijan we urge countries to take measures to stop their nationals.”

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.

Thirty one civilians have been killed and 164 others have been injured since the outbreak of large-scale hostilities on September 27, after Armenia launched another attack along the line of contact. Among the civilians are three children. As a result of the shelling of civilian infrastructure facilities by the occupying country's armed forces, 1,054 houses, as well as 142 civilian facilities were severely damaged.

On October 4, Armenia launched missile attack on Ganja, Azerbaijan's second largest populated city. There were also attacks on Mingachevir city that has a hydroelectric power station as well as on Khizi and Abheron region on the same day. On October 6, Armenia fired a forbidden cluster missile at Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) oil pipeline in Yevlakh. The bomb landed 10 meters away from the pipeline. Over 300 cluster bomblets ejected around as a result of the attack.

Azerbaijan and Armenia are locked in a conflict over Azerbaijan’s Nagorno-Karabakh breakaway region, which along with seven adjacent regions was occupied by Armenian forces in a war in the early 1990s. More than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed and around one million were displaced as a result of the large-scale hostilities.

The OSCE Minsk Group co-chaired by the United States, Russia and France has been mediating the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict since the signing of the volatile cease-fire agreement in 1994. The Minsk Group’s efforts have resulted in no progress and to this date, Armenia has failed to abide by the UN Security Council resolutions (822, 853, 874 and 884) that demand the withdrawal of Armenian military forces from the occupied territories of Azerbaijan.

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