News, reports, photos / videos on military actions in Karabakh for October 5, 2020

The foreign ministers of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairing countries condemned in the strongest terms the unprecedented and dangerous escalation of violence in the conflict zone and beyond.

They stressed that the recent attacks, allegedly targeting civilian targets, both along the line of contact and in the territories of Azerbaijan and Armenia outside the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone, as well as the disproportionality of such attacks, pose an unacceptable threat to stability in the region.

The authors of the statement called on the parties to the conflict to establish an immediate and unconditional ceasefire.

Nikol Pashinyan and Vladimir Putin once again discussed the protracted armed conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh. They said that it had acquired a large-scale character, both sides were suffering heavy losses, including among civilians.

Reportedly, the Russian president reiterated the urgent need to end hostilities.

“On October 5, as a result of intensive shelling of the armed forces of the occupying country in the Agdam region, a local resident Eyvaz Rahimov, born in 1954, was killed, a resident of the village of Uchoglan Mehman Safarov, born in 1971, was wounded and hospitalized” the press service of the Prosecutor General’s Office of Azerbaijan said.

It is also noted that as a result of artillery shelling and shells hitting residential buildings in the Goranboy region, a resident of the village of Gyzylkhajily Raziya Abbasova, born in 1955, died, four people were injured and hospitalized, including a 9-year-old boy.

Today, on one of the most difficult areas of the front line, the Defense Army used a tactical technique by creating the impression of a retreat for the enemy, reports the press secretary of the Armenian Defense Ministry Shushan Stepanyan.

“The enemy, trying to quickly occupy the positions ‘left’ by the Armenian forces, was trapped.
After that, as a result of a powerful artillery strike, most of the Azerbaijani unit was destroyed. Leaving more than 200 killed soldiers on the battlefield, the enemy fled.”

“Today the Azerbaijani army liberated the villages of Shykhali Agali, Saryjaly, Mezre of the Jabrayil region and several strategic heights in different directions. The successful operation of our heroic army continues. Karabakh is Azerbaijan!” – wrote the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev on his Twitter.

Bu gün Azərbaycan ordusu Cəbrayıl rayonunun Şıxəli Ağalı, Sarıcalı, Məzrə kəndlərini və müxtəlif istiqamətlərdə bir neçə strateji yüksəkliyi azad etmişdir. Qəhrəman ordumuzun uğurlu əməliyyatı davam edir. Qarabağ Azərbaycandır!

— İlham Əliyev (@azpresident) October 5, 2020

The Armenian armed forces once again bombard the city of Ganja, the press service of the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry reported.

The allegations of the Azerbaijani side that Mingechevir was allegedly fired upon from the territory of the Republic of Armenia “contain an obvious forgery”, the Armenian Defense Ministry claims. All explanations are provided in a specially prepared video report.
It says, in part:
– The photo, which was published by the assistant to the President of Azerbaijan, Hikmet Hajiyev, shows a shell of the Smerch system, which was allegedly fired from Armenia in the direction of Mingechevir. However, from the border of Armenia to the city of Mingachevir – 108 km. From such a distance the weapon could not strike. And multiple launch rocket systems can only be deployed at a certain depth, and not on the front line.
– The length of the projectile is 7m 80 cm. From the impact of such a projectile, the destruction should be tens of meters around. Meanwhile, the asphalt around the projectile is completely intact.
The report says that Azerbaijan is similarly trying to divert public attention from its failures at the front.

“I just signed up as a volunteer at the Central Military Commissariat. Dear colleagues, it is our turn to render our services to the Motherland,” Ashot Pashinyan wrote on his Facebook page.
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan also shared his son’s publication on his page.

“Our son is enlisted in the ranks of the army,” the prime minister wrote under the photo.
Earlier, Nikol Pashinyan, live on Facebook, called on the servicemen demobilized over the past year to appear at the military registration and enlistment offices. The head of the government explained his appeal by the fact that “these soldiers have the best military training.” Ashot Pashinyan was demobilized in the summer of 2020.

The meeting with the participation of the prime ministers of the member states of the Eurasian Economic Union will take place on October 8-9. On October 5, members of the group have already arrived in the Armenian capital by special flight, who are engaged in preparatory work.
Press secretary of the Armenian Foreign Ministry Anna Naghdalyan, answering the question whether all the countries that are members of the EAEU intend to attend, replied that she did not have information about those who refused. And on the postponement of the meeting, according to her, there is even no question.
The Eurasian Economic Union operating under the leadership of Russia includes Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.

The city of Agjabedi is under artillery fire by the Armenian armed forces, the press service of the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry reported.

Several local residents were injured as a result of the shelling, the report said.

In the morning of October 5, Arayik Harutyunyan visited the southern front line, in the village of Mekhakavan (Jabrayil). He wrote about this on his Facebook page:
“Not only in that direction, but along the entire line of contact the Defense Army continues to fight a life-and-death struggle for every centimeter of land. Our efforts to defeat the enemy will undoubtedly be a success.”

The Azerbaijani Defense Ministry has distributed video footage from the Talish village of the Terter region.

Yesterday, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev announced the capture of this village by the Azerbaijani army.

The Prosecutor General’s Office of Azerbaijan has published information about civilian casualties as a result of shelling by Armenian armed forces.

“From September 27 until today, 24 civilians have been killed, 121 people were injured,” the message says.

Vahram Poghosyan wrote about this on his Facebook page and gave reasons for this decision:

– Karabakh is now involved in the fight against international terrorism and “there are serious grounds for this statement, which are not limited to expert assessments”

– Having declared war on Karabakh, Azerbaijan refused to negotiate under the auspices of the three co-chairing countries of the OSCE Minsk Group and chose force to resolve the issue

– From the first day of the outbreak of hostilities, Azerbaijan has purposefully bombed peaceful settlements, using weapons prohibited by various international conventions

– In military operations against Karabakh, Azerbaijan attracted mercenary terrorists, the presence of which is also confirmed by various international centers.

Vahram Poghosyan states that all this gives “the legal right to transfer operations to the entire territory of Azerbaijan in order to clear it of terrorist groups.”

The press secretary of the NK president summed up his post saying the military-political leadership of Azerbaijan bears full responsibility for the consequences.

On the night of October 4-5 and at present, battles of varying intensity continue in the Karabakh conflict zone, reports the press secretary of the Armenian Defense Ministry Shushan Stepanyan:
“At the moment the enemy is delivering missile strikes to Stepanakert with great intensity. The enemy resumed offensive operations in the southern direction of the Artsakh front … The units of the Defense Army are making a worthy response to the enemy forces. ”

On the morning of October 5, the technical means of the radar systems of the Azerbaijani air defense forces recorded the launch of a rocket fired at Azerbaijan from launching positions in the Jermuk, Gafan and Berd regions of Armenia, the press service of the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry reported.

“For several days, the enemy, pinned down along the entire front, has been systematically launching missile strikes from the territory of Armenia against the densely populated regions of Azerbaijan and civilian infrastructure on the territory of Azerbaijan. At the same time, the Armenian Defense Ministry denies the fact of shelling the territory of Azerbaijan from Armenia and states that it was fired from the occupied territories. Such irresponsible and criminal actions of Armenia purposefully force Azerbaijan to retaliate, ”the message says.

The Armenian Armed Forces continue to fire at Tartar using heavy artillery, reports Qafqazinfo.

Two citizens, Taleh Novruzov (born in 1981) and Davud Suleimanov (born in 1993), were wounded by fragments of a shell that fell into the center of the city at night, the report said. They are hospitalized.

• The sides did not provide any new figures on military casualties yesterday. Azerbaijan reported that 24 civilians had been killed, and 111 others injured. Earlier, Armenia said over 200 soldiers had died since the outbreak of the hostilities on September 27. Experts suggest that the casualties among the military on both sides may be very high, given the intensity of the fighting.

• Azerbaijan said Armenia had launched a missile attack on Mingachevir, an Azerbaijani city that is home to the country’s key hydroelectric power plant. It published photos and videos which it said confirmed this, and claimed the missiles had been repelled. Armenia denied the attack had ever happened.

• The heavy mortar shelling of the Karabakh capital, Stepanakert, by the Azerbaijani military continued. Many people were wounded, many buildings are damaged. There were also reports of a bomb attack on the city of Shushi (called Shusha in Azerbaijan).

• The Armenian forces launched an artillery attack Ganja, the second largest city in Azerbaijan. One local resident was killed, and four others were injured.

• President of Karabakh Araik Harutyunyan said that “important military facilities in Azerbaijan are being held at gunpoint” and promised to launch hostilities deep in the territory of Azerbaijan – in response to the attacks on Stepanakert and other cities and villages in Karabakh. He called on Azerbaijani civilians to “leave the residential areas where your terrorist army’s positions are deployed to avoid casualties.”

• The Azerbaijani army seized the town of Jabrail and nine more villages (making it sixteen) in the Jabrail region, one of the seven regions surrounding Karabakh that have been controlled by the Karabakh authorities after the war in the early 1990s. Azerbaijan released photos and videos to confirm this. Karabakh responded by saying that that “Azerbaijan has repeatedly attempted offensives in the conflict zone, however all its attacks have failed as a result of the actions of the Karabakh Defense Army.”

• In an interview to the German newspaper Bild, Armenia’s prime minister said: “Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia have become the front of civilization. Armenians in the South Caucasus are the last obstacle to Turkey’s expansion to the north, southeast and east […] Turkey’s actions are aimed at restoring the Turkish empire. If the world community […] fails to properly understand the geopolitical significance of what is happening, Europe will have to expect Turkey near Vienna soon.”

• Azerbaijan’s reports that the president of Karabakh had been gravely wounded were denied in Karabakh.

• German Chancellor Angela Merkel called Armenian PM Nikol Pashinyan and supported the joint statement that the presidents of Russia, France and the United States had made earlier as the chairmen of the OSCE Minsk Group (the facilitator in in the Karabakh negotiations). The Group has called on the sides to immediately cease hostilities and resume negotiations. At the very least, a humanitarian pause needs to be agreed on to allow the sides retrieve the bodies of their military from the zone of fighting, Merkel said.

• “Iran supports the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan,” chief of staff of the president of Iran Mahmoud Vaezi said. “The end of the Armenian occupation will be a guarantee of stability in the region.”

• News, reports, photos / videos on military operations in Karabakh for October 4, 2020