Armenia and the Republic of Azerbaijan accused each other of shelling the border positions

The Ministry of Defense of Armenia announced that the forces of the Republic of Azerbaijan shelled the military positions in “Tavush” and “Gagharkonik” provinces.

The ministry announced in a statement: “On April 5 at 17:05 [13:05 GMT] in the village of Chinari (Tavush Province) and at 17:30 in Verin Shurzha (Gagharkonik Province), units of the The armed men of the Republic of Azerbaijan shot at the combat positions of Armenia using light weapons.”

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Azerbaijan announced that Armenian forces have fired at positions on the way to the town of “Manjoglu” in the “Tovez” region.

The statement of this ministry says: “At around 17:25 [13:25 GMT], the units of the Armenian armed forces from positions on the way to Chinarli settlement of the “Bard” region, using light weapons, the positions of the Azerbaijan Army stationed in They targeted Manjoglu settlement in Tovez region

Baku has said that the Armenian forces have tried to “carry out works aimed at improving the engineering of a trench in front of the positions of the Azerbaijani army.” Yerevan, however, called this statement “another false narrative”.

A number of media outlets of the Republic of Azerbaijan, such as the “Axar” news portal, by publishing images of the movement of the Armenian armed forces towards the border with the Republic of Azerbaijan, claimed that Armenia is accumulating military equipment in the southeastern border area of ​​”Sionik” – a part of the so-called To Zangzor- is.

According to Sputnik, Yerevan has not yet commented on these reports. Several Armenian media claimed that these images are old.

Earlier, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan met with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken in Brussels.

Pashinian emphasized Armenia’s commitment to normalize relations with the Republic of Azerbaijan based on mutual recognition of sovereignty and territorial integrity. Meanwhile, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said that the tripartite meeting is against any cooperation in the South Caucasus region. Aliyev added that the plan prepared for the South Caucasus could “lead to a big disaster in the future.”

Yervan and Baku have repeatedly accused each other of violating the fragile ceasefire on their border. In October 2022, the European Union deployed its first mission to monitor the situation on the border with the Republic of Azerbaijan in Armenia. The two countries continue to work on demarcation and demarcation of borders.

The South Caucasus is considered one of the most tense regions in the world, which is partly due to the long-term conflict between Armenia and the Republic of Azerbaijan over the Nagorno-Karabakh region. In September 2023, the Republic of Azerbaijan took control of this area, which was mainly composed of Armenians, and almost all local residents fled to Armenia.

Source: ISNA