Armenian troops violate ceasefire with Azerbaijan over 175 times a day

Over the past 24 hours, the Armenian military, using mortars and large-caliber machine guns, 176 times violated ceasefire on various parts of the contact line of Azerbaijani and Armenian troops, Azerbaijan’s Defense Ministry said August 26.

Armenian armed forces, stationed in Paravakar village of the Ijevan district of Armenia, opened fire at Azerbaijani army positions in Kohnegishlag village of the Agstafa district.

Armenians also opened fire from positions on nameless heights in the Krasnoselsk district of Armenia at the Azerbaijani army positions on nameless heights of the Gadabay district.

Azerbaijani positions were also fired at by Armenians stationed near the villages of Tapgaragoyunlu of the Goranboy district, Chilyaburt, Goyarkh of the Tartar district, Kengerli, Yusifjanli of the Aghdam district, Kuropatkino of the Khojavand district, Garakhanbeyli, Ashagi Abdurrahmanli of the Fizuli district.

Armenians also opened fire from positions on nameless heights in the Goygol, Goranboy, Khojavand, Fuzuli and Jabrail districts.

The opposing side was silenced with return fire.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.

The two countries signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, Russia, France and the US are currently holding peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented the UN Security Council's four resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding regions.