50 Azerbaijani Soldiers Died in Attack by Armenia

Baku, MINA – Fifty Azerbaijani soldiers have been killed in recent days in “provocative” attacks by Armenia, Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Defense said Tuesday.

“A total of 50 military personnel of the Armed Forces, including 42 military personnel from the Azerbaijan Army and 8 military personnel from the State Border Organization, were martyred while preventing large-scale provocation attacks,” the ministry said in a statement, Anadolu Agency reported.

Azerbaijan accused Armenia of carrying out “massive provocation attacks” in recent days, saying saboteurs planted mines and Armenian troops carried out “intensive” shelling of Azerbaijani positions.

This action of the Armenian troops led to a confrontation, the Azerbaijan Ministry of Defense said.

A meeting between the Azerbaijani President and the commanders of the armed forces on Tuesday stressed that the responsibility for the current tensions “rests with the Armenian political leadership.”

On Tuesday, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said 49 Armenian soldiers had been killed in the latest border conflict with Azerbaijan.

The relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan have been strained since 1991 when the Armenian military occupied Nagorno-Karabakh, also known as Upper Karabakh, an internationally recognized territory as part of Azerbaijan.

In autumn 2020, Azerbaijan liberated several cities and more than 300 settlements and villages occupied by Armenia. The battle ended with an agreement brokered by Russia. (T/RE1)

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)