BAKU 

Azerbaijan has downed an Armenian unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), the country’s Defense Ministry announced early Monday.

The drone was shot down Sunday evening while conducting reconnaissance activity over Azerbaijani territory, the ministry said in a statement.

The statement did not provide information about where the UAV was downed, although posts on social media claimed it took place in Shamkir province in western Azerbaijan.

The drone was not the first to be destroyed by Azerbaijani forces since tensions escalated between the two nations in July.

The Armenian Army violated a cease-fire on July 12 and attacked Azerbaijani positions with artillery fire, withdrawing after suffering losses following retaliation from the Azerbaijani army.

Armenia martyred 12 Azerbaijani soldiers, including high-ranking officers, and wounded four troops in the attack.

Despite international calls for restraint, Armenian troops opened fire on civilian settlements in the villages of Agdam and Dondar Kuscu. A 76-year-old Azerbaijani citizen was killed in the attacks by Armenia, which Baku has accused of hiding losses.

Azerbaijan has blamed Armenia for the "provocative" actions, with Turkey throwing its weight behind Baku and saying it is warning Yerevan that it would not hesitate to stand against any kind of attack on its eastern neighbor.

Since 1991, the Armenian military has illegally occupied the Upper Karabakh, or Nagorno-Karabakh region, an internationally recognized territory of Azerbaijan.

Four UN Security Council and two UN General Assembly resolutions as well as decisions by many international organizations refer to this fact and demand the withdrawal of the occupational Armenian forces from Upper Karabakh and seven other occupied regions of Azerbaijan.

*Writing by Gozde Bayar