Baku, Azerbaijan, Apr. 2
By Samir Ali – Trend:
The provocation of the Armenians on the front line in the direction of Azerbaijan’s Aghdam district has been prevented, chairman of the Guzanli village municipality of the country’s Aghdam district Mehdi Mammadov told Trend Apr. 2.
He said that on the night of Apr. 2, the Armenians fired at the villages of the Aghdam district located near the frontline using heavy artillery.
On the night of Apr. 2, all frontier positions of Azerbaijan were exposed to heavy fire from large-caliber weapons, mortars, grenade launchers and guns. In addition, Azerbaijani settlements near the frontline densely populated by civilians were fired at.
“The shelling lasted until morning,” Mammadov said. “The Armenians fired at the villages of Baharli and Khindiristan. One shell fell on the territory of the Baharli village, fortunately, no one died. In the morning, the enemy was silenced by response fire. The current situation in the territory of the Aghdam district is stable and under control.”
Mammadov denied the information that the population of villages in the Aghdam district leaves their homes, calling it untrue.
“No resident of the Aghdam district has left his (her) home,” Mammadov said. “All residents remain in their homes and are occupied with their usual activities.”
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 withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.
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