Azernews.Az

By Sara Rajabova

As the Armenian armed forces keep breaching the ceasefire regime, the situation on the line of contact between Armenian and Azerbaijani troops continues to be tense.

At 6 o'clock in the morning of January 24, the subversive-intelligence group of the Armenian armed forces once again attempted to cross the contact line of Azerbaijani and Armenian troops in the direction of Tartar region between the Gapanli and Seysulan settlements.

The Defense Ministry said Azerbaijan's armed forces strongly suppressed the intelligent plot of the Armenian group. After a brief fierce firefight, the Armenian units were forced to retreat.

Azerbaijani servicemen destroyed Armenia's military vehicle by preventing the Armenian armed forces' provocation on the frontline in Tovuz region.

The observations of the military units of Azerbaijani Armed Forces, located on the front line, show that orders and commands shouted during the Armenians' retreat were not only in the Armenian language, but also in other languages.

The Defense Ministry said the Armenian armed forces violated the ceasefire regime in various directions 93 times per day.

The Armenian armed units fired at the Azerbaijani Armed Forces positioned in the Mazamli and Gizilhajili villages of the Gazakh region and the Kohnegishlag village of the Aghstafa region from their posts in the Berkaber, Vazashen, and Paravakar villages of Armenia's Icevan region and also the Aghdam, Aghbulag, Kokhanebi, and Alibeyli villages. They also opened fire from the nameless uplands of the Tovuz region from their posts in the Chinari, Mosesgekh, Aygepar and Ayqedzor villages of Armenia's Berd region yesterday and tonight.

Armenians also fired on the positions of Azerbaijani Armed Forces from their posts near the Horadiz, Gorgan, Ashagi Seyidahmadli, Ashagi Veyselli and Ashagi Abdurrahmanli villages of the Fuzuli region, the Marzili, Yusifjanli, Shikhlar, Javahirli and Shuraabad villages of the Aghdam region, the Chilaburt and Gizil Oba villages of the Terter region, the Kuropatkino village of the Khojavend region, the Tapgaragoyunlu village of the Goranboy region, the Mehdili village of the Jabrayil region, and nameless uplands.

The shooting was answered in kind.

Frequent ceasefire violations occur almost every day, but the situation on the frontline has extremely worsened in recent days.

Frequent ceasefire violations also created problems for the people who live near the frontline.

The 37-year-old Rugiya Huseynova, a Tovuz region resident, was wounded on January 23 as a result of the Armenian armed forces' shelling of the villages located near the contact line of Armenian and Azerbaijani troops in the Tovuz region.

Huseynova received a gunshot in her foot, the local TV reported.

She was hospitalized at Tovuz's central hospital and her condition is satisfactory.

The most dangerous situation was observed in the Alibayli and Gadjalli villages of the Tovuz region. According to the residents, Armenians start shelling the villages at nights.

Earlier, the Armenian army shot dead an Azerbaijani officer, Captain Elnur Jafarov, on January 23, amid growing tension along the contact line between Armenian and Azerbaijan troops.

Meanwhile, Azerbaijani office of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) deplored the frequent ceasefire breaches on the contact line, head of ICRC office in Baku Deniz Duran said at a press-conference on January 24.

She said they were closely following the tense situation on the frontline, and expressed concern over the human losses.

"We are in contact with the representatives of the communities and government agencies. We intend to visit these territories once the situation becomes stable. Currently, we do not have any representatives in the areas where shootings occur because of safety reasons; we do not have representatives there," Duran said.

Armenia occupied over 20 percent of Azerbaijan's internationally recognized territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent regions, after laying territorial claims against its South Caucasus neighbor that had caused a lengthy war in the early 1990s.

The UN Security Council's four resolutions on Armenian withdrawal have not been enforced to this day.

Peace talks, mediated by Russia, France and the US and the OSCE Minsk Group are underway on the basis of a peaceful outline -called Madrid Principle -proposed by the Minsk Group co-chairs. The negotiations have been largely fruitless so far.