All Azerbaijani provocations prevented on contact line, Artsakh official says

Panorama, Armenia
July 5 2018

The Artsakh Defense Army has taken appropriate measures to prevent all the provocations coming from Azerbaijan on the contact line to escape further military escalations, Tigran Abrahamyan, an advisor to the Artsakh president, said in an interview with Panorama.am.

The official says that the mobilization and accumulation of Azerbaijan’s troops and military equipment along Artsakh contact line have become less intensive compared to the past few weeks, which, according to Abrahamyan, may be linked with the massive military drills being held in Azerbaijan from 2 to 6 July.

“Meantime, we must take into account the fact that the military exercises are taking place at such a distance from the contact line that can prompt tensions within hours,” he said.

Speaking about the possible attempts of subversive attacks or sniper shots by Azerbaijani military in the recent period, the advisor said the Azerbaijani sniper fire is noticeably active to a degree, but no major sabotage infiltration attempts are observed at the moment.

Asked what measures the Armenian forces are taking to counteract the Azerbaijani military accumulations, the official refrained from providing detailed information. “I can only state that the [Artsakh] Defense Army is undertaking measures consistent with the situation, due to which all the provocations of the adversary, including subversive attacks, attempts by snipers to inflict damage on manpower and technical means, including civilians, as well as setting areas close to the frontline on fire, have been prevented against the backdrop of recent Azerbaijani activation to escape further escalations of the situation,” he said.