BAKU, July 30. /TASS/. Azerbaijani Defense Minister Zakir Hasanov ordered army units to be ready to immediately suppress any provocations on the border with Armenia and in Karabakh, the ministry’s press service reported on Saturday.
"The minister thoroughly analyzed the operational situation and the current situation on the Azerbaijani-Armenian state border, as well as in the Karabakh economic zone, where the Russian peacekeeping contingent is temporarily deployed, and gave an order to be ready for the immediate and decisive suppression of any possible enemy provocations," the report said.
Earlier on Saturday, the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry reported that the positions of the armed forces of the republic on the border of the two countries were shelled from the territory of Armenia. According to the department, the fire was suppressed as a result of "adequate response measures".
The situation around Nagorno-Karabakh escalated on September 27, 2020, with the start of active hostilities. On November 9, a tripartite statement was signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, which made it possible to achieve a cessation of hostilities in the conflict zone. The Azerbaijani and Armenian sides stopped at their positions, a number of regions came under the control of Baku, and Russian peacekeepers were deployed along the line of contact and in the Lachin corridor.