News, reports, media on combat in Karabakh. October 29, 2020

During the daily briefing at the end of the day, the representative of the Armenian Ministry of Defense Artsrun Hovhannisyan said that in the southern direction of the front, in the section from Berdzor (Lachin) to the bank of the Araks River, the Armenian divisions improved their positions:

“The intensity of hostilities is different now, their nature has changed, the core of the enemy’s main offensive forces is broken, but sabotage groups, small groups will still try to do something.”

The press secretary of the Foreign Ministry Anna Naghdalyan also spoke at the briefing. When asked what is the agenda of the talks of the Armenian Foreign Minister in Geneva, scheduled for October 30, she replied that the priority for the Armenian side will remain the ceasefire and the introduction of appropriate control mechanisms for its implementation.

The enemy is 5 km from Shushi, said Arayik Harutyunyan during his address to the people. According to him, now Azerbaijan is conducting military operations not only along the entire front line, but has also invested serious military resources in the direction of Shushi. The President urged people to unite and prevent the capture of the city:

“Baku wants to seize the city of Shushi – a symbol of Armenian victories … We must turn the tide of the war in a matter of days and punish the enemy near Shushi.”

This was announced by the former Minister of Justice, representative of the families of Armenian prisoners of war at the European Court of Human Rights Artak Zeynalyan. The court ordered Azerbaijan to provide information on the health, whereabouts and conditions of prisoners of war until November 3.

The case was transferred to the European Court on 27 September. The names of the captives are Samvel Asatryan, Albert Mikaelyan, Edik Tonoyan, Valery Hayrapetyan and Arsen Karapetyan. Their family members recognized them on videos distributed by Azerbaijani media outlets, and asked the European Court of Justice to take urgent measures to protect their right to life and prevent inhuman treatment. According to the latest official data, there are 17 known servicemen in Armenia who are in Azerbaijan.

Aide to the President of Azerbaijan Hikmet Hajiyev in his Twitter announced the death of another civilian in Azerbaijan.

“Another civilian was killed by the Armenian armed forces in the village of Tap, Goranboy region. The rocket fell on the roof of his house, ”Hajiyev wrote.

Now. One more civilian was killed by Armenian armed forces in Tap village of Goranboy region. Missile landed on the roof of their house. Armenia's #Warcrimes continues.

— Hikmet Hajiyev (@HikmetHajiyev) October 29, 2020

A spokesman for the Armenian Defense Ministry said on her Facebook page that the exchange took place thanks to the exceptional mediation efforts of Russia, with the participation of the field team of the International Committee of the Red Cross and the personal representative of the OSCE chairman-in-office.

“The Armenian side, remaining committed to the agreements on a humanitarian truce, expresses its readiness to transfer the bodies of Azerbaijani servicemen who are on the Karabakh side to the Azerbaijani side, begin the process of evacuating the bodies of the dead from interpositional territories along the entire length of the front, begin the process of exchanging information about prisoners of war and exchanging them,” – Shushan Stepanyan writes.

Aide to the President of Azerbaijan Hikmet Hajiyev said that the Azerbaijani side handed over to Armenia the bodies of 30 soldiers and officers who remained on the battlefield. Also, two elderly people were handed over to the Armenian side, who were found alive during the hostilities in Hadrut.

The operation to transfer the people and bodies of the dead was carried out through the humanitarian corridor organized in the direction of Gazakh-Tovuz with the assistance of the Russian Ministry of Defense.

The Prosecutor General’s Office of Azerbaijan has updated data on the number of dead and wounded civilians.

According to the ministry, since the beginning of hostilities, 90 people have died, 392 have been wounded. 2406 private houses were damaged.

Ganja:

• Air base of the Air Force of the Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan, helicopter squadron

• Permanent deployment of the motorized rifle brigade of the General Staff of the Armed Forces

• Special Forces Brigade of the Internal Troops

• Center for command and control of the Ministry of Defense

• Radio engineering battalion of the General Staff of the Armed Forces

• Base of fuels and lubricants under the command of the Ministry of Defense

• A machine-building plant for the defense industry, an aircraft repair plant and an artillery armament repair plant.

Barda:

• Headquarters of the 1st Army Corps

• Repair battalion

• Separate communications battalion

• Anti-aircraft missile division

• Tank brigade

• Anti-tank division.

“The Armenian armed forces fired at the territory of Barda and Goranboy regions,” reads an urgent message from the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry.

The Geneva meeting of the foreign ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia, scheduled for today, has been postponed until tomorrow, RIA Novosti reports citing its own source.

The ministry informs that Stepanakert, Shushi and surrounding settlements remain the target of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces, and Smerch rocket systems is being used for shelling.
The State Service for Emergency Situations of Karabakh reports that a residential building was destroyed in Stepanakert, and the neighboring building completely collapsed from the blow. Two people were injured.

“Today at about 9:25 am the Armenian armed forces subjected the territory of Goranboy and Terter regions to artillery fire,” an urgent message from the press service of the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry said.

“During the day on October 28 and on the night of October 29, units of the Armenian armed forces fired from various types of weapons, including missiles and artillery, at the positions of units of the Azerbaijan Army in different directions of the front and settlements near the front zone.

The fighting continued mainly in the Khojavend, Fizuli and Gubadli areas of the front, ”the press service of the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry said.

One month has passed since the beginning of fighting in Karabakh.

• 21 people were killed and more than 60 injured after the Armenian military fired rockets at the Azerbaijani city of Barda, the Azerbaijani prosecutor general’s reported, also saying that cluster munitions prohibited by the international law had been used in the attack. The Armenian defense ministry denied the accusations.

• Armenia’s foreign ministry accused Azerbaijan of committing war crimes after what it said had been a new slew of missile attacks on the cities of Stepanakert and Shushi in Karabakh. It said a local maternity hospital building had been damaged as a result of the attacks, but reported no casualties. The Azerbaijani defense ministry denied the accusations.

• Azerbaijan updated its tally of civilian casualties: 69 people killed, 322 injured. • Another 13 settlements have come under the control of the Azerbaijani army, the president of Azerbaijan announced.

• “Armenia’s policy is for other countries to solve their problems for them. I tell them: ‘Recognize Karabakh instead of asking other countries to do it’ – the president of Azerbaijan in an interview with the Russian Interfax news agency said.

• News, reports, photos / videos on military operations in Karabakh for October 28, 2020