Azernews.Az

By Sara Rajabova

Defying international calls, Armenia continues to violate the ceasefire on the contact line between Armenian and Azerbaijani troops.

In the latest violation, the Armenian armed forces shot dead another soldier of the Azerbaijani army.

The Armenian armed forces violated the ceasefire by opening fire at positions of the Azerbaijani armed forces in Fizuli region on March 17.

Soldier 20 year-old Elvin Hasanov died of a gunshot wound, the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry reported.

The report noted that Hasanov was posthumously awarded with a medal "For distinguished service in the military service" of the third degree upon order by the Defense Minister, Colonel-General Zakir Hasanov.

The defense ministry expressed its deepest condolences to the parents and relatives of the soldier.

The situation has remained tense on the contact line since mid-January with Armenian armed forces repeatedly violating the ceasefire.

Earlier, Azerbaijani Defense Ministry reported that most ceasefire violations are made in Fizuli, Agdam, Terter, Goranboy, Khojavend and Jabrayil districts. So far, the ceasefire has been violated over 3,000 times since January 2014. In all cases, the enemy's fire was replied by retaliatory fire.

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 caused a brutal war in the early 1990s. Long-standing efforts by US, Russian, and French mediators have been largely fruitless so far.

As a result of Armenia's military aggression, over 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed, 4,866 were reported missing, almost 100,000 were injured, and 50,000 were disabled.

The UN Security Council has passed four resolutions on Armenian withdrawal from the Azerbaijani territory, but they have not been enforced to this day.