The Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan states that on the night of September 12, the armed forces of Armenia committed a large-scale provocation in the Dashkasan, Kelbajar and Lachin directions of the border.

The Ministry informs that the sabotage groups of the opposite side mined the areas between the positions of the Azerbaijani army and the supply roads in different directions, using the mountainous terrain and valleys, in the dark.

To prevent this, the Azerbaijani army took urgent measures and a battle took place.

The ministry says that some army positions, shelters and strongholds in the mentioned areas are under intense fire from various types of weapons, including mortars.

It is also noted that there are losses among personnel and damage to military infrastructure, and Armenia has concentrated offensive weapons, heavy artillery and personnel along the borders of Azerbaijan.

In addition, the Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan states that the information of the Armenian side about the attacks by the Azerbaijanis on the civilian population, facilities and infrastructure is not true, and the "counteraction in response to provocations" is of a frightening nature and is aimed at legitimate military facilities, which are platforms.

In Armenia, Azerbaijan is blamed for the aggression, saying that it attacked the cities of Garis and Jermuk and the village of Sotk with drones and mortars.

Because of this, the Russian military base in the city of Gyumri was raised in alarm.

The authorities in Yerevan deny that they were the first to attack the Azerbaijani positions, as they say in Baku.

Armenians also say that several Armenian soldiers were killed in the Azerbaijani attacks, but the details have not yet been disclosed.

Prime Minister of Armenia

held a meeting of the Security Council of the country, which was also attended by President

and Chairman of the National Assembly

.

"In connection with the aggression against the sovereign territory of the Republic of Armenia, a decision has been made to officially appeal to the Russian Federation in order to implement the provisions of the Treaty on Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance, as well as to the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) and the UN Security Council," it says. in the message of the Armenian authorities.

It is also known that Nikol Pashinyan called French President

.

Paris had previously consistently supported the Armenian side in the conflict.

The previous escalation of the conflict between the states took place on August 3.

Then the Ministry of Defense of the unrecognized republic of Nagorno-Karabakh, which is called Artsakh in Armenia, reported the death of two military contractors and the wounding of 14 soldiers.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan announced the death of an Azerbaijani soldier.

According to the decree of Karabakh leader

, a partial mobilization was announced in Nagorno-Karabakh.

The conflict in Karabakh

• The territorial dispute between Armenia and Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh has been going on since the late 1980s.

  The Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region, populated mainly by ethnic Armenians, with the support of Armenia, announced its withdrawal from the Azerbaijan SSR, and in September 1991 announced the creation of the "Nagorno-Karabakh Republic" ("Artsakh" in Armenian).

• During the armed conflict of 1988–1994, 30,000 people died in the region.

  Nagorno-Karabakh and several adjacent regions of Azerbaijan came under the actual control of the armed forces of Armenia.

  As a result, hundreds of thousands of people, mostly ethnic Azerbaijanis, became refugees and forced migrants.

• The "Nagorno-Karabakh Republic" was not officially recognized by any of the UN states, including Armenia itself.

  In 1993, the UN adopted four resolutions demanding the withdrawal of Armenian troops from Karabakh and recognition of the territory as part of Azerbaijan.

• After another escalation of the situation at the end of September 2020, Azerbaijan returned to its control the areas around Nagorno-Karabakh and took the ancient and symbolically significant city of Shusha.

  The day after the capture of Shusha, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a peace agreement to end the war in the region.

• According to the agreement, Armenia and Azerbaijan have fixed territories where the troops were at the time of signing the document.

  The Russian peacekeeping mission, which as of July 2021 is about 2,000 people, is located along the contact line.

• Despite the peace agreement of 2020, skirmishes occur periodically between the armies of the two countries, leading to capture, injuries and deaths.