Overnight on 12 September, action was taken by the army of Azerbaijan to defend their positions and stop shelling by the Armenian Army close to the border in the regions of Kalbajar, Lachin and Dashkasan. Sabotage groups of the armed forces of Armenia took advantage of the difficult mountainous terrain of the area and adverse weather conditions, and attempted to plant landmines in the areas between the positions of units of Azerbaijan Army and on their supply routes.
Azerbaijani army positions were subjected to intensive shelling by the Armenian armed formations from various types of weapons, including mortars and artillery, as a result of which there were casualties among the personnel of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces and damage was inflicted on military infrastructure.
From 9:00 am today, 13 September, agreement was reached on a ceasefire brokered by International partners. Azerbaijan has stated that it expects that Armenia will respect its obligations and will not escalate the situation by committing new attacks.
The large-scale Armenian military provocation that took place on the undefined state border is not an isolated case, according to Azerbaijan which claims the this is just part of the chain of military and political provocations committed by Armenia over recent days. They say that the ceasefire has been frequently violated by Armenia against both Azerbaijani military outposts, and civilian operations.
Armenia continues to plant anti-personnel mines in the territories of Azerbaijan on a large scale..As a result of the Azerbaijani demining activity conducted since 15 August, more than 1300 anti-personnel mines have been discovered in the territory of Lachin district, alone.
Although Armenia stated that its military would be withdrawn from the territory of Azerbaijan by September 2022, this has not yet happened. There is clearly no sincerity to engage in the normalisation of relations between the two states, nor to implement the previously reached agreements. The proposals of the Azerbaijani side to start concrete negotiations on the peace treaty have not been reciprocated. Armenia appears to be acting in a destructive and openly hostile manner
It looks as though Armenia, by resorting to large-scale military provocations on the undefined state border with Azerbaijan, aims to involve third parties and expand the geopolitical impact of the tension, thereby avoiding any peace talks. It is an open question whether Armenia might be acting as a proxy for Moscow in order to deflect attention from Russia’s catastrophic failed invasion of Ukraine which casts a dark shadow over the security of the entire region.
