Fights on the border of Azerbaijan and Armenia

1 Azerbaijan — Armenia

On Tuesday, the Azerbaijani Ministry of Defense reported about an Armenian shelling of two villages in the Tovuz region, on the border of the two countries. The spokesman for the Armenian Ministry of Defense, Shushan Stepanyan, announced that the situation on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border is relatively calm. Earlier the Azerbaijani Ministry of Defense reported that in the second half of 13th of July, some military facilities and equipment of the Armenian Forces, located on the border, were destroyed. «Some firing positions, a reconnaissance unit’s radar station, a military vehicle storage facility, a tank, an APC, more than 20 servicemen, a battalion HQ, and some military infrastructure of the Armenian forces were destroyed» — the statement reported. The Armenian Foreign Ministry reported that the Azerbaijani armed forces opened fire at the villages of Chinar and Aygepar, in the Tavush region of Armenia. It was also reported that the Armenian forces shot down several Azerbaijani UAVs near the border of the two countries. On Monday, the Russian Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavrov, had a telephone conversation with the Armenian Foreign Minister, Zohrab Mnatsakanyan, and the Azerbaijani Foreign Minister, Elmar Mammadyarov, regarding the escalated situation on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border. Sergey Lavrov called on the parties of the conflict for an immediate ceasefire. The UN Secretary General, Antoni Guterres, also appealed to Armenia and Azerbaijan to end the clashes, and begin to de-escalate the conflict. «He expressed his full support of the actions of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs” — said Stefan Dujarrick, the spokesman for the UN Secretary General.

2 Azerbaijan — Armenia

The Azerbaijani Defense Ministry announced the death of two officers as a result of a shelling done by the Armenian troops. It was reported that as a result of the Armenian shelling of the village of Agdam, in the Tovuz region, on the border with Armenia, one civilian was killed. The Azerbaijani Deputy Minister of Defense, Lieutenant-General Karim Valiyev, announced that since 12th of July, as a result of the actions of the Azerbaijani troops, up to 100 Armenian soldiers were killed. Some military equipment and a command post were destroyed as well. The Armenian Defense Ministry also reported about the death of two officers as a result of a shelling from the Azerbaijani side.

3 Syria

The Russian Center for the Reconciliation of the warring parties in Syria reported that a terrorist-made IED exploded at the route of the joint Russian-Turkish patrol on the M4 highway. The explosion occurred near the village of Erich, in the southern part of the Idlib DMZ. The center clarified that the Russian troops were slightly injured — there is no threat to their lives. All the wounded troops were quickly taken out of the area. The wounded Russians were delivered to the airbase ‘Khmeimim’. The Turkish crew members were also injured. Currently, the patrolling has been stopped. The damaged equipment is being evacuated. »The command of the Russian group of forces in Syria, together with the Turkish military, and the Syrian security agencies, are trying to identify which terrorists, operating in the Idlib DMZ, made an attack on the convoy» — the report concluded.

4 Syria

The Syrian troops captured and delivered to the city of Tadmor, near Palmyra, 3 terrorists from the extremist organization ‘Magavir al-Saura’. They were part of a group that went to a minefield, after which several radicals died from landmines. The task of the terrorists was to collect «Information about the Russian, Iranian and Syrian military facilities». The starting point of the detained terrorists was the village of Al-Tanf. One of them mentioned that he was trained under the supervision of the American instructors.

5 China

The Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman, Hua Chunying, stated that the international community must repel the restoration of the US sanctions against Iran. Such statement was made on the anniversary of the signing of the ‘Joint Comprehensive Action Plan’ on the Iranian Nuclear Problem. Hua Chunying underlined that during the recent years, the USA used a policy of one-sided actions. They leave their international obligations, and quit from the international treaties. «The Iranian refusal to fulfill a part of the obligations of the treaty was the result of the pressure from the USA» — Hua Chunying added. The Russian Foreign Ministry made a statement for the 5th anniversary of the agreement, in which it stated that the chances for the ‘JCPOA’ to return to a stable condition are still preserved. Moscow intends to «encourage the partners to work together to find ways to de-escalate and protect the ‘JCPOA’ from the US attacks». The statement of the Russian Foreign Ministry underlined that there is no alternative to the ‘JCPOA’.