Armenia Shells Azerbaijani Positions Three Times in Four Days

Last week, the Armenian army targeted the Azerbaijani positions located along the Armenia-Azerbaijan state border three times in four days.

The units of the Armenian armed forces opened fire at the positions of the Azerbaijani army in the Tovuz district, which borders the Berd region of Armenia, on June 24 and 27. According to Azerbaijan’s Defense Ministry, Armenia’s military also targeted the Azerbaijani troops stationed in the Kalbajar district on June 27.

The attacks did not cause casualties or injuries among the personnel of the Azerbaijani army, the ministry reported.

The tension on the border came shortly after Armenia’s inadequate response to the border protection measures of the Azerbaijani army. In May, Armenian authorities claimed that the Azerbaijani troops violated Armenia’s border. Yerevan has even appealed to the Collective Security Treaty Organization with its claims. However, the Azerbaijani authorities said the activities of the Azerbaijani army did not go beyond the country’s borders and were in line with the maps available to both Baku and Yerevan.

In response to Azerbaijan’s border protection measures, the Armenian forces have resorted to provocative attempts by dispatching sabotage groups to the Azerbaijani territories. On May 27, the Azerbaijani military detained six Armenian saboteurs who illegally crossed the state border to plant mines in the routes and paths used for supplying the Azerbaijani border posts in the country's district of Kalbajar. A week later, on June 4, a mine explosion destroyed a bus that was carrying Azerbaijani journalists and government officials to one of Kalbajar’s villages. Two employees of the state-owned media organizations and an official from the Kalbajar district died in the accident. Four others were hospitalized with injuries.

Kalbajar is one of the districts returned to Azerbaijan under the tripartite statement signed on November 10 by Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Russia. The liberation of the district came as a result of Azerbaijan’s successful counter-attack operations in the country's Karabakh region that started with Armenia’s provocations and lasted from September 27 through November 9, 2020.

On September 27, 2020, the decades-old conflict between the two countries spiraled after Armenia’s forces deployed in the occupied Azerbaijani lands shelled military positions and civilian settlements of Azerbaijan. During the counter-attack operations that lasted 44 days, Azerbaijani forces liberated over 300 settlements, including the cities of Jabrayil, Fuzuli, Zangilan, Gubadli, and Shusha, from nearly 30-year-long illegal Armenian occupation. Under the tripartite statement, Armenia returned the occupied Aghdam, Kalbajar, and Lachin districts to Azerbaijan.

The post-war situation on the Armenia-Azerbaijan state border, particularly in Kalbajar, remains fragile due to Armenia’s provocative attempts. During June, Armenia six times fired at positions of the Azerbaijani army along the border, including four times at those stationed in Kalbajar.