Groups We Hit Near Lisagor Towards Shushi Fled into the Forests

The enemy has attempted various attacks in the northern, central, and southern directions with small groups. Approximately, they deployed tactical groups with a few units of military equipment. They have attempted to become active again towards the Red Market direction; however, they were pushed back after losing several pieces of equipment. Defense Ministry representative Artsrun Hovhannisyan stated this during his interview today with Petros Ghazaryan.

"In the villages and forests near Shushi, efforts to discover and eliminate diversionary groups continue. Aliyev presents that they are attacking Shushi, filling the international media with such narratives, feeding their own public. But I am surprised; I have not seen a form of warfare where you search for the attacking side to find and eliminate them. What does it mean to attack if we are searching for them, finding them, hitting 1-2 of a group of 15-20, and the rest flee into dense forests with poor road networks where you cannot use heavy armored vehicles? They bypass from another location, trying to find weak spots, enter villages, cause damage, plant flags, take pictures, and then our guys go in and they start to flee. We are saying that in those gorges, where the ongoing operation is named 'Gyorgbagh 2020', they will continue to be gyorgbagh," Hovhannisyan noted.

In his remarks, Hovhannisyan indicated that the enemy could only have favorable conditions and positions if they could break through towards Martuni; nevertheless, their persistent attempts over several days have not yielded results. "They attempted several times over three to four days to break through towards Martuni, towards Chartar, to control the entire highway, hoping that their forces on the left would be saved from the fate of being crushed individually in the villages of Avetaranots, Red Market, and Azokh, but it did not succeed, and now gyorgbagh continues. Perhaps Aliyev promised a large amount of money, or under the threat of punishment, is forcing everyone to take a flag and at least get into some corner of the fortress city," Hovhannisyan added.

In Berdzor city, where the enemy also failed with their diversionary penetration attempts, everything is in order, and people are living their normal lives, he added.

"But a little beyond Lachin, in the direction of Lisagor towards Shushi, there are groups we hit, they fled yesterday and filled the forests on the right and left. Today we have been searching with mortars, artillery, and clearance groups all day; we have found them and cleared them or they have fled," Hovhannisyan emphasized, adding that the enemy's primary goal now is to enter Shushi.