Armenia to be accountable for border tension escalation
By Sara Rajabova
Azerbaijan's Defense Ministry said Armenia should be held accountable for the recent escalation of tension on the contact line of Armenian-Azerbaijani troops.
In an interview with Trend News Agency on August 6, Defense Ministry spokesman, Colonel Vagif Dargahli rejected as baseless Armenia's Defense Minister's statement accusing Azerbaijan of escalating tensions on the frontline.
The statement said Azerbaijan's military and political leadership are responsible for the escalation of tensions on the Azerbaijani-Armenian contact line. It also claimed that Azerbaijan's losses are eight or nine times more than what is reflected in the official data.
Dargahli said that probably, their losses are so huge that they can't even keep the relevant statistics. "Armenians even don't know how to hide the facts about the casualties. Therefore they have to make groundless statements like this one," he said.
Armenia escalated tensions on the border areas from July 31. Sporadic fighting has been going on ever since. Thirteen Azerbaijani servicemen were killed and several others injured during the clashes between two sides. Despite what is said by Armenian officials, they suffered more losses.
Dargahli stressed that Armenia's military and political regime is responsible for the escalation of tensions in recent days, as Armenian armed forces deployed in Nagorno-Karabakh and along the Azerbaijani-Armenian border constantly fire at Azerbaijan's settlements and civilians.
"These fires left several injuries among the local population. Moreover, Armenia's reconnaissance and sabotage groups attempt to attack the positions of Azerbaijani armed forces on the frontline," Dargahli said.
Recently, Armenian armed forces wounded two children living in the villages near the contact line of Armenian-Azerbaijani troops.
Dargahli pointed out that Azerbaijan foiled these attacks and forced the groups to retreat.
Armenia captured Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding districts from Azerbaijan in a war that followed the Soviet breakup in 1991. More than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed and nearly 1 million were displaced as a result of the war.
Large-scale hostilities ended with a Russia-brokered ceasefire in 1994 but Armenia continued the occupation in defiance of four UN Security Council resolutions calling for immediate and unconditional withdrawal.
Peace talks mediated by Russia, France and the U.S. have produced no results so far.