The Armenian military accused Azerbaijani forces late on Tuesday of again attacking one of its positions at a section of Armenia’s border with Azerbaijan where deadly fighting raged last week.
The Defense Ministry spokeswoman, Shushan Stepanian, said an Azerbaijani commando unit suffered heavy losses while being repelled by Armenian troops deployed in the Tavush province. Some of the unit’s soldiers were “left trapped” as a result of the failed incursion, she said without elaborating.
“The Armenian side suffered no casualties,” Stepanian wrote on Facebook.
Azerbaijan’s Defense Ministry denied the claim. “There were no new attacks, let alone casualties, from our side,” said its spokesman, Vagif Dargahli. “The Armenian report is yet another disinformation.”
Dargahli said earlier in the day that the situation on the border between Tavush and the Tovuz district in western Azerbaijan remains “tense but stable.”
Fierce fighting at the volatile border section broke out on July 12, with each side accusing the other of trying to seize its frontline positions in the mountainous area. At least 12 Azerbaijani soldiers, including a general, and four Armenian servicemen died before the clashes involving artillery fire and drone attacks largely stopped on July 16.
The international community has expressed serious concern over the worst escalation of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict in years.
According to Stepanian, Azerbaijani special forces targeted late in the evening the same hilltop post of the Armenian army which they unsuccessfully stormed early on July 16.
“Although there was no gunfire as of 00:47 a.m. [on Wednesday] I must nonetheless note that the leadership of the Azerbaijani armed forces is not in control of the situation,” the Armenian official wrote in another Facebook post after midnight.