Exchange of fire between Armenia and Azerbaijan, two Armenian soldiers killed
This Tuesday, February 13, Armenia and Azerbaijan, these two rival countries in the Caucasus, accused each other of having carried out shooting at their border. An incident which left two Armenian soldiers dead according to Yerevan.
Convoy of Armenian soldiers (illustrative image). Armenia and Azerbaijan have accused each other of firing at their border. AP
By: RFI Follow
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This Tuesday, February 13 in the morning, “
units of the Azerbaijani armed forces opened fire (...) on Armenian positions near Nerkin Hand
”, a village in the region of Siounik (south) bordering both the '
Azerbaijan
and the Azerbaijani enclave of Nakhchivan, the Armenian Defense Ministry said in a statement. According to initial information, “
there are two deaths on the
Armenian
side and wounded
,” the ministry further clarified. For its part, the Azerbaijani Border Guard Service affirmed that this attack on Armenian positions was a “
revenge operation
” in response to a “
provocation
” by Armenian forces committed on the evening of Monday February 12 according to Baku and which injured an Azerbaijani soldier.
“
Even more severe and resolute response
”
According to a press release from the Azerbaijani Ministry of Defense, Armenian forces fired twice on Monday evening at its positions “
in the direction of the village of Kokhanabi, in the Tovouz region
” (north-west Azerbaijan). At the end of the operation, Tuesday, "
the military post from which these shots came
(...)
was completely destroyed
", assured the Azerbaijan Border Guard Service, promising an "
even more severe response and resolute
” to “
every provocation
” on the border between Armenia and Azerbaijan. The Armenian Defense Ministry, for its part, rejected these accusations, saying that they “
do not correspond to reality
”.
This incident comes shortly after the re-election as head of Azerbaijan of Ilham Aliev, in power for two decades in this hydrocarbon-rich country. The 62-year-old strongman from Baku is riding high on his military victory against the Armenian separatists of Nagorno-Karabakh in September 2023, which put an end to three decades of secessionism marked by two wars.
Azerbaijan's ambitions
In September 2023, the Azerbaijani army, thanks to a lightning offensive, took complete control of this mountainous enclave which had been ruled by Armenian separatists for decades, forcing tens of thousands of inhabitants to flee. The Azerbaijani president is, however, suspected of having other territorial ambitions, and in particular control of the Armenian region of Siounik to connect the enclave of Nakhitchevan to the rest of Azerbaijan.
(
With AFP
)
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