Four Armenian soldiers killed on Azerbaijani border
- 13 February, 18:25
Armenia and Azerbaijan have traded accusations over yet another deadly cross-border incident.
The Armenian Defence Ministry reported on Tuesday that four of its soldiers were killed and another was wounded in what they described as Azerbaijani provocation on the two countries’ border. The Armenian soldiers were killed from a gunfire wound during an attack near Nerkin Hand village in the Syunik border region, the ministry reported. The ministry described it as “another provocation” by the Azerbaijani forces.
“This indicates that Azerbaijan is looking for pretexts for escalation on the border. […] We strongly condemn these actions of Azerbaijan resorting to military provocations, we call to refrain from steps that destabilize the situation and return to negotiations. Once again, we reaffirm the proposals previously voiced by the Armenian side to implement reliable measures aimed at increasing border security,” the Armenian Defence Ministry stated.
Azerbaijan claimed the attack was in response to yesterday’s attack on its position. The Defence Ministry said on Tuesday that Azerbaijani Army conducted a “revenge” operation over “yesterday’s provocation by the Armenian Armed Forces” in the Kapan-Zangilan section.” An Azerbaijani border guard was injured due to shelling from the Armenian Armed Forces on the attack on Monday. On February 12, the Azerbaijani Defence Ministry reported that units of the Armenian Armed Forces opened fire on positions in the northeastern part of the border.
