Armenia, Karabakh deny Baku’s report of drone downing

News.am, Armenia
Feb 22 2019
Armenia, Karabakh deny Baku's report of drone downing

[Armenian News note: the below is translated from Armenian]

Armenia and Azerbaijan's breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh have denied Baku's reports that Azerbaijani troops shot down an Armenian drone in the Karabakh conflict zone, News.am reported on 22 February.

The Azerbaijani Defence Ministry said on 21 February that an X-55 UAV had been shot down while making a reconnaissance flight over Azeri army positions in Agdam District. The ministry provided photos of what it said was the downed drone.

The Karabakh defence ministry said in response that the report is far from reality, News.am reported.

"The Karabakh defence army has not lost any drone recently. As to the pictures [of the downed drone] in Azerbaijani media outlets, these are apparently old photos," the Karabakh ministry was quoted as saying.

It added that Karabakh troops had used UAVs before and would use them again if needed.

The chief of the General Staff of the Armenian Armed Forces, Artak Davtyan, also dismissed the Azerbaijani reports, News.am said in a separate report.

According to News.am, Davtyan told reporters on 21 February that no incidents worth mentioning had occurred on the border between the two countries. He added that he knew nothing about the Armenian side losing an aircraft, the report said.

Azerbaijan and Armenia are locked in a conflict over Azerbaijan's breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh region, which, along with seven surrounding districts, came under the control of Armenian troops in the early 1990s.