Azerbaijani positions come under Armenian fire in Aghdam
By Vugar Khalilov
Illegal Armenian armed groups have shelled Azerbaijani military positions located in liberated Aghdam 28 times, the Defence Ministry reported on March 10.
Starting from the night of March 9 to the morning of March 10, members of the illegal Armenian armed detachment on Azerbaijani territory, where Russian peacekeepers are temporarily stationed, fired on Azerbaijan army positions in the direction of Aghdam region's Chukhurmehle, Gurdlar, Khidirli, Garadaghli, and Gasimli settlements, the ministry said in a statement.
The Azerbaijani army units took appropriate retaliatory measures to suppress the opposite side. They have complete command of the operational situation, the ministry said.
Meanwhile, the Defence Ministry denied media reports of tensions on Azerbaijani territory, where Russian peacekeepers are temporarily stationed.
"Information spread in Armenian social networks about alleged tensions on Azerbaijani territory, where Russian peacekeepers are temporarily deployed, is baseless and provocative," Trend reported, citing the ministry.
"We declare that the situation in all directions is stable and under the control of Azerbaijani army units," the ministry added.
About 2,000 Russian peacekeepers have been deployed for five years in Karabakh under the trilateral cease-fire deal signed by Baku, Moscow and Yerevan on November 10, 2020. The signed agreement obliged Armenia to withdraw all its troops from the Azerbaijani lands that it had occupied since the early 1990s.
The trilateral ceasefire deal signed by the Azerbaijani, Russian and Armenian leaders on November 10, 2020, ended the three-decade conflict over Azerbaijan’s Karabakh region which along with the seven adjacent regions came under the occupation of Armenian armed forces in the war in the early 1990s.
The deal also stipulated the return of Azerbaijan's Kalbajar, Aghdam and Lachin regions. Before the signing of the peace deal, Azerbaijan liberated 300 villages, settlements, city centers, and historic Shusha city that had been under Armenian occupation for about 30 years.
On January 11, 2021, the Azerbaijani, Russian and Armenian leaders signed the second statement since the end of the 44-day war. The newly-signed statement was set to implement clause 9 of the November 2020 statement related to the unblocking of all economic and transport communications in the region.
On November 26, 2021, the Azerbaijani, Russian and Armenian leaders signed a statement and agreed on a number of issues, including the demarcation and delimitation of the Azerbaijani-Armenian border by late 2021, some points related to humanitarian issues and the issue of unblocking of transport corridors which applies to the railway and to automobile communications.
On December 14, 2021, during the Brussels meeting, organized between Azerbaijani and Armenian leaders at the initiative of European Council President Charles Michel, the sides reaffirmed their commitment to the conditions agreed in the Sochi meeting.
Both sides agreed to establish a temporary working group on the delimitation of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border.
The issue of demining the liberated territories of Azerbaijan was also brought up on the agenda, and the European Union's readiness to provide technical assistance to Azerbaijan in this regard was underlined at the meeting.
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