Azerbaijan’s armed forces opened intense fire with artillery and drones at Armenian positions located in several sections of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border shortly after midnight on 13 September. In particular, positions in the directions of Sotk, Vardenis, Goris, Kapan, Artanish and Ishkhanasar were shelled. This was announced by the press secretary of the RA Ministry of Defence, Aram Torosyan.
He noted that there were also strikes against civilian infrastructure.
“The units of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Armenia are fully carrying out the combat tasks set before them. The claims of Azerbaijan’s MOD that the Armenian side started the shelling are absolutely false. The military-political leadership of Azerbaijan was preparing an obvious informational groundwork for this provocation in recent days, as evidenced by the disinformation published on a daily basis regarding alleged shelling by the Armenian side,” Torosyan stated, adding that this pattern has been familiar since the 44-day war of 2020.
“As in all those cases, in the case of the latest large-scale provocation as well, it was initiated by the military-political leadership of Azerbaijan,” he noted.
It should be noted that the Armenian side has casualties and wounded; the data are being clarified. According to Aram Torosyan, the Ministry of Defence will regularly issue statements regarding developments in the situation. “We urge refraining from publishing videos depicting military operations and following only the official news feed,” the MOD spokesperson emphasised.
It should be noted that later the Ministry of Defence of Azerbaijan announced a “large-scale provocation by units of the Armed Forces of Armenia in the directions of Dashkasan, Kalbajar and Lachin along the Armenian-Azerbaijani state border.”
According to that statement, infiltrating reconnaissance groups of the Armenian Armed Forces, in the dark, using the mountainous terrain and gorges, mined areas located between the positions of Azerbaijani army units and supply routes in various directions.
“As a result of the urgent measures taken by our units to prevent these operations, a military clash occurred,” the Ministry of Defence stated, adding that there are losses on the Armenian side in personnel, and military infrastructure has also been damaged.
Official Baku insisted that “with such steps, Armenia aims to slow down the implementation of large civilian infrastructure projects carried out by Azerbaijan in the liberated border regions and to maintain an atmosphere of tension near Azerbaijan’s borders.”
