Ruslan Rehimov
22 April 2021•Update: 22 April 2021
BAKU, Azerbaijan
Armenian forces launched cross-border fire twice on Wednesday, Azerbaijan said.
The Azerbaijani troops acted with restrain after peacekeeping Russian units said the Armenian soldiers were drunk, the Azerbaijani State Border Service said in a statement on Thursday.
"Considering Russia's appeal, the Azerbaijani troops showed restraint and did not retaliate. After the incident, the Azerbaijani side was informed that provocative Armenian servicemen had been removed from the area," the statement read.
In yet another provocation, a group of people in a convoy of cars chanted anti-Azerbaijan slogans in the Armenian language, it added.
"The State Border Service officially states if such provocations repeat in the future, we will take the severest retaliatory measures," the statement concluded.
Relations between the former Soviet republics have been tense since 1991 when the Armenian military occupied Nagorno-Karabakh, or Upper Karabakh, internationally recognized as Azerbaijani territory, and seven adjacent regions.
On Sept. 27, 2020, the Armenian army launched attacks on civilians and Azerbaijani forces and violated several humanitarian cease-fire agreements.
During the 44-day conflict, which ended under a deal signed on Nov. 10, 2020, Azerbaijan liberated several cities and nearly 300 settlements and villages from the Armenian occupation.
*Writing by Ahmet Gencturk
