One soldier killed due to Armenian provocation /UPDATED/

A serviceman of the Azerbaijani armed forces, Orhan Novruzalizadeh, died as a result of an Armenian provocation, the Ministry of Defence press service said at 11:24 am on Thursday.

Where exactly it happened was not reported. Apparently it was an armed clash today in the area of the Zod mine on the border of Qalbajar and Gegharkunik regions of Armenia.

Earlier, the Ministry of Defense reported one wounded. -0-

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2023 May 11 (Thursday) 08:13:49

Fighting in the area of the Zod gold deposit

Baku/11.05.23/Turan: The Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan reported that an Azerbaijani soldier was seriously wounded on the evening of May 10 as a result of intensive shelling from Armenia in the Zod direction. On the morning of May 11, Armenia, further aggravating the situation, began shelling Azerbaijani positions with mortars, the Azerbaijani military department said.

On the evening of May 10, units of the Armenian armed forces from positions in the Zod direction subjected the opposite positions of the Azerbaijani Army to intensive fire from various types of small arms, deliberately committing a provocation, the press service of the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry reported early in the morning on May 11.

As a result of aimed fire from the enemy, a serviceman of the extra-active military service of the Azerbaijan Army, Mahmudlu Muslim Vidadi oglu, was seriously wounded in the head, the press release of the department further says.
The wounded soldier was immediately taken to a military medical facility.

"Despite warnings about the need to put an end to provocations and deliberate aggravation of the situation, the Armenian side once again violated the ceasefire," the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry stressed.

In the direction of committing a provocation, the units of the Azerbaijan Army took the necessary response measures, the military department noted.

"The entire responsibility for this deliberately committed provocation lies with the military-political leadership of Armenia," the press release of the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry concludes.

According to another military department, on the morning of May 11, Armenia further aggravated the situation in this direction and began shelling Azerbaijani positions with mortars.

The units of the Azerbaijani army are taking the necessary response measures, according to a press release from the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry.

In turn, the Armenian Defense Ministry claims that “on May 11, from 06:00, units of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces opened fire from artillery and mortars on Armenian positions located in the direction of Sotk (Zod).” As of 07:00 from the Armenian side 4 wounded. According to the Armenian Ministry of Defense, at 07.50, the skirmish at the border continued.

There is a gold deposit in Zod, most of which falls on the Azerbaijani side of the border.

After the occupation of the Kelbajar region of Azerbaijan in 1993, the Armenian side also exploited the Azerbaijani part of the field. This was put to an end after Azerbaijan liberated the Kalbajar region following the results of the 44-day war in 2020.—06B-