On January 11, an infiltration attempt by Azerbaijani armed forces in the northeastern marz of Tavush on the Armenia-Azerbaijan state border has resulted in casualties. According to Armenia’s Defense Ministry Spokesperson Artsrun Hovhannisyan, the body of an Azerbaijani soldier was left in the territory between Armenian and Azerbaijani military positions, while an 80-year-old Armenian shepherd was killed in the incident.
“Today, at approximately 17:30, Azerbaijani armed forces attempted a diversionary attack along the Armenia-Azerbaijan state border near the village of Baghanis in the Tavush marz. The movement of the adversary’s troops were discovered in time. The Armenian army’s rapid response unit was able to intercept the cross-border diversionary operation. The body of one of the members of the adversary’s diversionary unit is now found in the territory between the military positions (Armenian-Azerbaijani – Editor). Sadly, during the skirmish, a shepherd, Seryozha Sargsyan, b. 1935, who was in the vicinity was killed. The Republic of Armenia’s armed forces are completely in control of the situation. The full responsibility for the incident remains on the military and political leadership of Azerbaijan,” said Artsrun Hovhannisyan.
Background
Since the beginning of 2015, tensions along the Karabakh-Azerbaijan Line of Contact have been high. In the early morning hours of January 3, an Azerbaijani attack took place against the southern and western positions of the Nagorno Karabakh Defense Army. As a result of military operations by the Defense Army, the adversary was pushed back to its starting position. However, during that attack, two Armenian soldiers, Karen Grigoryan and Vardan Mkrtchyan were killed, while another, Volodya Harutyunyan was injured.
On January 5-6, the Nagorno Karabakh Defense Army reported that more than 5000 shots were fired from Azerbaijani positions. According to that report, Azerbaijani military forces utilized different caliber weapons, including 60 and 82 mm mortars and RPG-7 grenades. In response to these ceasefire violations, the Armenian side undertook corresponding military operations, killing at least three Azerbaijani soldiers.
On January 7-8, the ceasefire regime along the Karabakh-Azerbaijan Line of Contact was violated around 400 times with an estimated 5500 rounds of gunfire by the Azerbaijanis.
Tensions along the Armenia-Azerbaijan state border in the northeastern marz of Tavush and in particular on the Noyemberyan-Ghazakh and Berd-Tovuz sections of the border were also high on January 6. CivilNet reporter Tatul Hakobyan reported from Tavush that the Armenian villages of Aygepar, Nerkin Karmiaghpyur and Dovegh had come under heavy Azerbaijani fire from their military positions located in the Azerbaijani villages of Alibeyli and Kemerli. No casualties or injuries were reported.
