Yevand Firian, an Armenian Karabakh farmer receives medical treatment after being injured Azerbaijani rocket fire on 26 March.
Three Azerbaijani soldiers were killed in the line of duty after the Armenian army has accused Baku to intensify again the violations of the ceasefire in the region of Nagorno-Karabakh conflict at the end of last week. The Azerbaijani Ministry of Defense said Monday that two of its soldiers, including a lieutenant, died Sunday at a “attempt of Armenian troops invading” Gazakh district in western Azerbaijan border of Tavush province in the north of Armenia.
These combat deaths were announced two days after an Armenian soldier was wounded and hospitalized. An Armenian civilian of 64 years Berkaber the village near the border of Azerbaijan was wounded by cross-border gunfire Friday night. He too had to be hospitalized. Azerbaijani third victim, a sergeant, was reportedly shot dead Friday. The Azerbaijani army does not specify whether he died in the Armenian-Azerbaijani border or “line of contact” around Karabakh.
According to the Defense Army of Karabakh, fighting along the “line of contact” intensified Friday night and Saturday morning, Azerbaijani forces have fired more than 100 mortar shells and rockets. Karabakh Armenian farmer was wounded in the head. The Defense Army said its frontline troops responded to violations of the truce by “punitive actions”. A separate statement of Defense Ministry in Yerevan issued Saturday stated that the Armenian army was conducting operations to “restrict the Azerbaijani side” and “stabilize the situation”. Without elaborating.
The spokesman of the Ministry, Artsrun Hovannisian said on Monday that the situation in the Tavush-Gazakh section of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border was tense during the weekend. “The actions of the Armenian army were proportionate,” said he told the news agency Armenpress. “We responded to all target shooting [of Azerbaijan].”
This latest escalation came days after qu’Andzrej Kasprzyk, OSCE High official to monitor the ceasefire regime in the conflict zone, called the conflicting parties to avoid any violation of the truce during the holidays Norouz and Easter respectively celebrated in Azerbaijan and Armenia and Karabakh. Each side accuses the other today to ignore the call. Announcing its latest victims on Monday, the Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan urged the international community to condemn the “Armenian provocations. “A spokesman for the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry, meanwhile, said that Armenians exacerbate tensions in order to consolidate the status quo in Karabakh.
Unlike the Armenian side Baku has repeatedly rejected the specific safeguards against violations of the cease-who are wanted by the United States, Russia and French mediators. As late as March 19, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev denounced the proposed confidence-building measures on the ground that “contribute to freeze the conflict,” the mediators and supports Armenia.