OSCE monitoring in Aghstafa district passes without incidents

The OSCE monitoring held on the line of contact between the Azerbaijani and Armenian troops has passed without incidents, Azerbaijan’s Defense Ministry said.

The monitoring was held on August 17 under the mandate of the OSCE chairperson-in-office personal representative on the line of contact near the Tatli village of Azerbaijan’s Aghstafa district.

On the Azerbaijani side, the monitoring was held by field assistants of the OSCE chairperson-in-office personal representative, Hristo Hristov and Simon Tiller.

On the opposite side the monitoring was carried out by the personal representative of the OSCE chairperson-in-office Andrzej Kasprzyk and his field assistants Jiri Aberle and Peter Svedberg, Trend reports.

Recall, on the night of April 2 all frontier positions of Azerbaijan were exposed to heavy fire from large-caliber weapons, mortars, grenade launchers and guns. In addition, Azerbaijani settlements near the front line, densely populated by civilians, were shelled.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20% of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.

The two countries signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, Russia, France and the US, are currently holding peace negotiations.

Armenia has not yet implemented the UN Security Council's four resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.