In 2019, More than 85,000 Shots Fired Towards Armenian Positions: Armed Forces Summarize the Year

The situation at the contact line between Armenian and Azerbaijani armed forces in 2019 can be conditionally considered relatively stable. This is reported by the press service of the Artsakh Republic Ministry of Defense.

Due to large-scale engineering-fortification works carried out on a daily basis and continuous processes of equipping the front line with monitoring systems, not only has the safety of personnel involved in combat duty significantly increased, but the likelihood of diversionary infiltration attempts by the Azerbaijani armed forces has nearly disappeared. Except for the incident on September 22, when the opponent attempted a diversionary infiltration from one of its positions located in the southeastern (Karakhambeyli) direction, leaving one body in the neutral zone, similar actions were not undertaken throughout the year.

According to the summary of operational data from the armed forces, in 2019, the ceasefire regime was violated approximately 9,000 times by the adversary, during which more than 85,000 shots were fired towards Armenian positions, utilizing not only small arms but also a 60mm mortar (13 shells) and a tripod-mounted automatic grenade launcher (32 shells). It is important to highlight that the number of ceasefire violations and shots fired by the opponent throughout the year is the lowest since 2010.

Addressing the Nagorno-Karabakh issue, it should be noted that despite the 25th anniversary of the signing of the ceasefire agreement between the parties, the OSCE Minsk Group, responsible for resolving the issue, has not managed to achieve progress. Official Baku continues to reject the fundamental principles of conflict resolution and disregards the confidence-building measures proposed by the co-chairs aimed at reinforcing the ceasefire regime.

Throughout the year, high-level meetings and unofficial contacts between the conflicting parties, as well as six meetings of Foreign Ministers, have not managed to record any progress due to the opposing positions of the parties.

In summary, we must record the following: the absence of progress on the negotiation table and Azerbaijan's highest-level statements about resolving the Karabakh issue through military means led the Defense Army to counter with its strength and combat readiness throughout the year. This continued to assert a proactive role at the front line, thereby ensuring the integrity of the borders of the Republic of Artsakh and the peaceful livelihood of the population.