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1st LD Writethru: Azerbaijan destroys Armenian frontline command post, says defense ministry

Xinhua, April 4, 2016 Adjust font size:

The Azerbaijani Defense Ministry said on Monday that the country's armed forces have destroyed an Armenian command and staff point in the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region.

"A command and staff point of the Armenian armed forces stationed in the occupied Azerbaijani territories was destroyed by return fire inflicted by the Azerbaijani troops," the ministry said in a statement, adding that a large number of Armenian troops, including officers of the rank of colonel and general, were killed.

The ministry said it will later provide a video footage of the operation.

Earlier, the ministry said that the tense situation on the front line remained. Ministry Spokesman Vagif Dargakhly told local media that the two sides were using heavy equipment and artillery.

The Armenian armed forces resumed shelling of Azerbaijani positions along the line of contact on Monday.

Hostilities between Armenia and Azerbaijan on the contact line of the Nagorno-Karabakh region reportedly flared up overnight Saturday with the two countries' defense ministries blaming each other for triggering the escalation.

The Azerbaijani Defense Ministry said 12 Azerbaijani soldiers have been killed in the fighting while the Armenian side said that 18 soldiers died on its part.

Armenia and Azerbaijan have been locked in a bitter dispute over the mountainous region of Nagorno-Karabakh. Their conflict over the region first broke out in 1988, when the region claimed independence from Azerbaijan to join Armenia.

Peace talks have been held since 1994 when a ceasefire was reached, but minor clashes occasionally occurred in the past along the contact lines and across the volatile frontline. The clashes escalated last month. Endi