Azernews.Az

By Mushvig Mehdiyev

The Azerbaijani armed forces killed members of two Armenian reconnaissance and sabotage groups who attempted to launch an attack on Azerbaijan's positions, the Defense Ministry said.

Preventive fire by the Azerbaijani forces resulted in the death of the commander of the sabotage group Tigran Simonyan and several other soldiers, said the Ministry.

The Azerbaijani armed forces suffered no losses. They are now keeping the situation on the frontline under their full control, according to the Ministry.

Armenia's provocative attacks on Azerbaijani positions are running high amid the efforts to intensify the peace talks. Helicopter and drone operations, as well as periodical ceasefire infringements by the Armenian side also distorted the activity of the international mediators who are tasked with making reconciliation between the conflicting sides as soon as possible.

Of course, resolving the conflict should go ahead based on the international law and restoration of Azerbaijan's territorial integrity, which is now challenged by Armenia through occupation of 20 percent of its territories for over two decades.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan.

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. Peace talks mediated by Russia, France and the U.S. have produced no results so far.

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