Azernews.Az

Information about the fact that supposedly Armenian units recaptured the heights around the village of Talish, passed under the control of Azerbaijani army, are groundless and false, Defense Ministry of Azerbaijan reported on April 6.

The ministry says that the dissemination of such information is the result of false and futile activity of the military and political leadership of Armenia, trying somehow to raise the spirit of the demoralized and not wishing to fight the soldiers of the Armenian army which lost its fighting capacity, as well as being in a panic Armenian people.

"The Ministry of Defence reiterates that during the day the Armenian side has continued to violate ceasefire in different directions and response of Azerbaijan's Armed Forces, forced to stop this provocation, will be tough", the Defense Ministry said in a statement.

For over two decades, Azerbaijan and Armenia have been locked in conflict which emerged over Armenia's territorial claims against its South Caucasus neighbor. Since a war in the early 1990s, Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan's territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding regions.

Over the entire period of its existence, the OSCE Minsk Group, which acted as the only mediator in resolution of the conflict, failed to move forward in resolving the long lasting conflict.

The situation on the frontline aggravated on April 2 after the Armenian military units in the occupied lands started shelling Azerbaijan’s positions.

To protect civilian population, the Azerbaijani Armed Forces launched counter attacks and as a result, the Azerbaijani troops retook hills around the village of Talish, as well as Seysulan settlement, and also took over Lele Tepe hill located in the direction of Fizuli region.

The hostilities renewed in the occupied Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan on April 4, as the Armenian side continued to shell the Azerbaijani positions although the Azerbaijani side announced unilateral ceasefire on April 3.

The Azerbaijani Army destroyed about 370 enemy soldiers since the start of the hostilities, according to the defense ministry.

Azerbaijan and Armenia have agreed to cease operations on the line of contact starting from 12.00, April 5.