Author: Markos Nalchajian

About 55 cases of ceasefire violation by the Azerbaijani side were registered at the line of contact with the Karabakh forces last night, the NKR defense Ministry reports.

The rival used firearms of different calibers as it fired over 840 shots in the direction of the Armenian positions.

The Azeri forces used hand-held antitank grenade launchers in the northern direction of the line of contact.

The front divisions of the NKR Defense Army resorted to response actions to pressure the activeness of the rival and confidently continued with their military duty.

Photo: Sergei Bobylev/Russian Defence Ministry Press Office/TASS

Around 100 aircraft, radar troops and air defense forces from seven CIS member states are taking part in the Joint Air Defense System drills, Russia’s Defense Ministry said in a statement on Wednesday, TASS reports.

“The exercise began with sentries from Eastern European and Central Asian regions detecting control targets of the token enemy performed by the Russian Tupolev Tu-160 and Tupolev Tu-85MS strategic bombers as well as the Tupolev Tu-22MS long-range bombers,” the statement says.

The drills are taking place in the air space of Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Armenia. The exercise involves strategic bombers Sukhoi Su-27, Mikoyan MiG-29, MiG-31, Sukhoi Su-24, Su-34, Su-25 war planes as well as Mi-8 and Kamov Ka-27 helicopters.

During the drills, the Air Defense forces will conduct exercises against aircraft breaching the CIS countries’ borders, actions to be taken in the event of aircraft hijacking, and assistance to planes and helicopters in distress.

President Serzh Sargsyan has offered condolences over the crash of the passenger bus travelling from Moscow to Yerevan and issued a number of instructions for the RA state bodies. The President’s letter of condolences reads:

“Dear Compatriots,

I learned with great sorrow the news on the night accident with the bus travelling from Moscow to Yerevan which resulted in the loss of human lives and casualties. At this grave moment, I express my condolences and support to the families of the victims, their relatives and friends. I wish a speedy recovery to all injured.”

A short time after the accident, the relevant bodies reported to the President that early this morning, at 4.30am a major accident took place at the Beslan-Vladikavkaz highway. A bus travelling on the Moscow-Yerevan route and a truck collided. According to the preliminary data, five were killed and 27 injured. President Serzh Sargsyan instructed the Government of Armenia and RA Embassy in Russia to undertake urgent measures to provided necessary assistance to the victims and organize full-scale medical aid. He also instructed to provide necessary assistance to the families of those killed and injured. Relevant bodies in Armenia were instructed in a short period of time together with the law enforcement bodies of the Russian Federation to find out the causes of the accident and its circumstances and provide a comprehensive report.

The President was also informed that representatives of the RA Consulates in Rostov and South Russia have already arrived at the site of the accident and in cooperation with the relevant bodies of the Russia are engaged in providing first aid to the injured.

Photo: AFP

France has begun air strikes against so-called Islamic State in Iraq from the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle, reports say, the BBC repots.

A number of Rafale fighter planes took off from the carrier early on Friday, news agency AFP said.

It quoted an officer on board, who said the planes would take part in an attack on Mosul, an IS stronghold in Iraq.

The Charles de Gaulle, France’s only aircraft carrier, was sent to the region earlier in September.

This is the ship’s third mission with the US-led coalition in Iraq and Syria, since February 2015, when France stepped up its military operations following the attacks in Paris.

On 25 September President Bako Sahakyan signed a decree, according to which serviceman of the NKR Defense Army’s N division Sevak Khachatryan was posthumously awarded with the “For Service in Battle” medal for bravery shown during the defense of the Nagorno Karabagh Republic state border, NKR President’s Press Office reports.

On September 20, on the sidelines of the 71th regular session of the UN General Assembly, Edward Nalbandian, Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs, had a meeting with David Choquehuanca, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bolivia.

The sides discussed issues concerning the bilateral relations and cooperation within the framework of international organizations, attached importance to the establishment of friendship group in the parliaments and the holding of regular consultations between the Foreign Ministries of two countries.

Edward Nalbandian expressed gratitude for the recognition of the Armenian Genocide by both houses of the Bolivian legislative body back in 2014 and emphasized that it was an important input of the Bolivian people in the fight for the international recognition of crimes against humanity.

In course of the meeting, views were exchanged on the current international and regional issues.

Photo: AFP

 

A magnitude 6.2 earthquake has struck central Italy, leaving at least six people dead and others trapped under rubble, Italian officials said, the BBC reports.

The quake hit at 03:36 (01:36 GMT), 76 km (47 miles) southeast of the city of Perugia, at the very shallow depth of 10km (six miles), the USGS said.

The Mayor of Amatrice told Italian radio “half the town is gone”.

In Rome, some buildings shook for 20 seconds, according to La Repubblica newspaper.

A family of four had been found under rubble in the town of Accumoli, the town’s mayor Stefano Petrucci told RAI TV.

Meanwhile police said two people had died in the nearby village of Pescara del Tronto, RAI reported.

Members of the armed group that seized a police station in Armenia two weeks ago, have announced plans to lay down arms.

Member of the “Sasna Tsrer” group Varuzhan Avetisyan told 1in.am that the decision had been made to avoid any further bloodshed.

The Armenian Ministry of Health says 45 people applied to different medical institutions after clashes between police and protesters outside the seized police station in Erebuni district.

Twenty-five of the injured were policemen, 18 were driven to hospitals in ambulance cars.

The Ministry said those injured are getting due treatment and pledged to provide more detailed information later.

“We’re working on Nagorno-Karabakh,” US Secretary Of State John Kerry said in an interview with the Meet the Press on NBC.

“We’re still working on the issue of Ukraine and we still haven’t resolved the issue of Ukraine. And frankly, we’ve spent a good deal of time in the conversation with President Putin laying down the steps that we need to take to deal with Ukraine, also,” Kerry said, commenting on his recent trip to Russia.

“So we’re working on a number of different issues. We’re also working on Nagorno-Karabakh. But with respect to Syria, nothing in what we talked about is based on trust. I’m not sitting here naively trusting what the Russians may or may not do. What we have done is laid out a series of steps concretely,” the Secretray said.