Azernews.Az

By Amina Nazarli

The Azerbaijani Defense Ministry has condemned Armenian media reports for misinformation about provocations on the contact line, resulting in "injury of two Armenian soldiers".

“Such reports are aimed at gross violation of the agreement on the suspension of military operations,” the ministry told Trend on April 18.

Over the past few days no operation has been conducted by the Azerbaijani Armed Forces, the ministry said.

The national army only struck back at the enemy positions, violating the ceasefire. The incident with the injured Armenian soldiers occurred as a result of their personal lack of discipline and hazing.

The Armenian media reported about the Azerbaijani side's alleged provocation and wounding of two Armenian servicemen in the northern direction of the line of contact of both countries.

Under the agreement achieved between the sides through international mediation, it is planned to carry out search and the removal of the dead bodies left on the battlefield on April 19 in this direction of the front.

On the night of April 2, all the frontier positions of Azerbaijan were subjected to heavy fire from the Armenian side, which used large-caliber weapons, mortars and grenade launchers.

The armed clashes resulted in deaths and injuries among the Azerbaijani civilians. Azerbaijan responded with a counter-attack, which led to liberation of several strategic heights and settlements.

Military operations were stopped on the line of contact between Azerbaijani and Armenian armies on Apr. 5 at 12:00 (UTC/GMT + 4 hours) with the consent of the sides, Azerbaijan's Defense Ministry earlier said. Ignoring the agreement, the Armenian side continued violating the ceasefire.

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 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations.

Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.

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Amina Nazarli is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @amina_nazarli