(MENAFN- AzerNews)
By Sabina Mammadli
- The first week of the 44-day second Karabakh war proves
crucial for the next days of the military operations
- Liberation of several villages & destruction of dozens
of Armenian military hardware demoralize the occupying
army
- Azerbaijan steps information campaign to neutralize
Armenia along with its deepening military crush
- The course of the seven-day heavy battles across the
entire perimeter of the front heartens both the army & nation about
the desired outcome of the war
September 27, 2022, marks the second anniversary of the start of
the 44-day second Karabakh war.
In response to the frequent Armenian provocations and to
terminate the nearly 30-year-long occupation of Karabakh and
surrounding territories, the Azerbaijani armed forces started
wide-ranging military attacks to regain the lands and it resulted
in the decisive and glorious victory over the Armenian army within
just 44 days.
Throughout the six-week-long blitzkrieg, the Azerbaijani army
regained a significant part of the occupied territories, that is
over 300 towns and villages from Armenia's 30-year-long disastrous
occupation, compelling the enemy to sign an act of capitulation,
and return back several districts in line with Russia-brokered
peace deal.
By virtue of ongoing provocations along the contact line,
unsuccessful mediation efforts of the OSCE Minsk Group, and
Armenia's refusal to comply with international laws, just to name a
few, to put an end to the occupation, a decisive war was not long
in coming.
Here's how the first week of the war played out:
Chronicle of 44-day Second Karabakh War: September
27
On September 27, at about 0600 hours, the Armenian armed forces
committed large-scale provocations by subjecting to intensive
shelling from large-caliber weapons, mortars, and artillery mounts
of various calibers positions of the Azerbaijan army along the
entire perimeter of the front and settlements close to the
frontline.
There were killed and wounded among the civilians as a result of
the intensive shelling by the enemy of Tartar District's Qapanli
village, Agdam District's Chiragli and Orta Qarvand villages,
Alxanli and Shukurbayli villages of Fuzuli District, and Jojug
Marjanli village of Jabrayil District. Serious damages were
inflicted on civilian infrastructure.
Qaraxanbayli, Qarvand, Kand Horadiz, Yuxari Abdulrahmanli
villages of Fuzuli District, Boyuk Marjanli, and Nuzgar villages of
Jabrayil District were liberated soon after the Azerbaijani army
started the liberation of the occupied lands.
Five members of a family in the Azerbaijani village of Qashalti,
Naftalan District, i.e. the head of the Gurbanov family, Elbrus,
and four members of his family, were killed as a result of the
Armenian shelling.
President Ilham Aliyev and French leader Emmanuel Macron had a
phone conversation to discuss the escalation of tension on the line
of contact between the Azerbaijani and Armenian troops.
Azerbaijan declared martial law that included imposing a curfew
in several cities from 2100 pm to 0600 am.
Chronicle of 44-day Second Karabakh War: September
28
Several advantageous heights around the village of Talysh were
cleared of the occupying forces, and the Armenian armed forces
suffered heavy losses.
President Ilham Aliyev signed an order to introduce partial
mobilization across Azerbaijan.
Presidential aide Hikmat Hajiyev gave an interview to Al Jazeera
Media Network.
The Azerbaijani Army destroyed several more Armenian armed
forces combat vehicles on that day.
Chronicle of 44-day Second Karabakh War: September
29
First Vice-President of Azerbaijan Mehriban Aliyeva made a post
on her Instagram page on the second Karabakh war. 'May the Almighty
God bless every Azerbaijani to kiss the holy land of Karabakh.'
President Ilham Aliyev responded to Russian state Rossiya 1's
political talk show 60 Minut (60 Minutes) questions on what led to
the war.
Ilham Aliyev held a videoconference with UN Secretary-General
Antonio Guterres. President provided information about the military
provocation committed by Armenia against Azerbaijan.
Parliamentary Speaker Sahiba Qafarova and President of the OSCE
Parliamentary Assembly Georgi Tsereteli discussed the
Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict and Armenia's aggression against
Azerbaijan.
A large number of manpower and equipment of the Armenian armed
forces were destroyed.
Armenia fired at a car belonging to the Azerbaijani ITV channel
in Qapanli village of Azerbaijan's Tartar District.
At the same time, heavy fighting continued during the night: one
enemy tank and up to 10 soldiers were neutralized. Meanwhile, the
offensive of the Azerbaijani Army for the liberation of Fuzuli city
continued.
Furthermore, the enemy's tank was destroyed in the direction of
Agdara, and Azerbaijani artillery units delivered crushing blows to
the enemy.
Chronicle of 44-day Second Karabakh War: September
30
President Ilham Aliyev and First Lady Mehriban Aliyeva went to
the military hospital to meet with wounded soldiers.
President of the European Council Charles Michel made a phone
call to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev.
The Armenian armed forces used Tochka-U high-precision tactical
ballistic missile system. However, due to the unsuitability and
poor quality of the Armenian troops' military equipment, three of
the fired missiles didn't explode.
The Azerbaijani Army disabled an S-300 anti-aircraft missile
system of the Armenian armed forces during the fighting in
Shushakand village of Khojaly District.
The Azerbaijani Army conducted operations to destroy Armenian
manpower and military equipment, surrounded in the Agdara and
Tartar directions, as well as continued purging the territory of
the Armenian troops.
Some 46 civilians were injured, and 14 were killed in heavy
artillery shellings of Azerbaijan's densely populated areas.
Chronicle of 44-day Second Karabakh War: October
1
Some 97 houses and facilities in Azerbaijan's Agdam District
were destroyed by artillery shelling by the Armenian armed
forces.
Starting the morning of October 1, 2020, units of the Armenian
armed forces once again subjected the Azerbaijani city of Tartar to
artillery fire.
Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov had a phone
conversation with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov, during
which he said that Armenia is purposefully targeting civilians in
the clashes.
At that point, sixteen civilians were killed and 58 others were
injured with three kids among them.
In a phone conversation with Belarus President Alyaksandr
Lukashenka, President Ilham Aliyev blamed Armenia for deliberately
violating the negotiation process and targeting civilian
targets.
As a result of the intensive shelling of residential buildings
in Jojug Marjanli village by the Armenian armed forces, many houses
were extensively damaged.
Chronicle of 44-day Second Karabakh War: October
2
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev was interviewed by Al-Jazeera
TV channel. In the interview, the head of state once again defended
the rightful position of Azerbaijan in the international media and
spoke about the large-scale provocations of the Armenian armed
forces and the counter-offensive operation of the Azerbaijani army.
He also answered questions about the history of the conflict.
Combat operations continued in different directions of the
front. In the direction of Agdara, the Azerbaijani troops liberated
the important heights around Madagiz settlement (later renamed
Sugovushan) and took control of it.
In the Jabrayil-Fuzuli direction, the Azerbaijani army managed
to move forward and broke the resistance of the Armenian troops,
forcing them to retreat.
Five Armenian armored vehicles, three military infrastructure
facilities, and a large number of servicemen were destroyed.
Armenian volunteers from Armenia to Azerbaijan's then-occupied
territories refused to fight under various pretexts, fearing the
intensity of the fighting and the heavy losses.
The Armenian armed forces subjected the villages of Xindiristan,
Alibayli, Ahmadaghali, and Safarli of Agdam District to a massive
artillery bombardment. As a result of the aggression, there were
wounded and killed civilians.
The Armenian armed forces shelled the building of a kindergarten
in the Sixarx settlement in the city of Tartar.
Armenian armed forces fired on journalists, who were reporting
from the frontline. The journalists operating in the residential
areas fired by Armenian forces came under sudden fire.
Armenia launched nearly 10 Tochka-U tactical missiles to
Sabirkand village of Shamkir District.
On that day, the Armenian military supplies and combat positions
were destroyed.
The Azerbaijani army seized the battle flag of the air discount
command unit of the Armenian armed forces' 193rd airborne assault
battalion, as well as a large number of weapons and ammunition from
the Armenian forces who fled the battlefield, helpless in the face
of the power of the Azerbaijani army. The Armenian field control
point, as well as several other Armenian manpower and equipment,
were destroyed.
Chronicle of 44-day Second Karabakh War: October
3
President Ilham Aliyev announced that the Azerbaijani army
raised the national flag in Madagiz, renaming it Sugovushan, and
liberated Talish village in Tartar, Mehdili, Chaxirli, Ashagi
Maralyan, Shaybay, Guyjag, and Ashagi Abdurrahmanli villages in
Jabrayil and Fuzuli Districts.
The Azerbaijani Defense Ministry presented a list of the
destroyed military equipment of the Armenian armed forces. Its
total losses amounted to 230 tanks and other armored vehicles, 250
artillery installations, multiple launch rocket systems, and
mortars, 38 air defense systems, 10 command and observation posts,
seven ammunition depots, more than 130 vehicles, and one
anti-aircraft missile complex S-300.
On the night of October 3, the combat activity of the Armenian
armed forces in various directions of the front was suppressed, and
crushing blows were inflicted on them.
The Armenian armed forces shelled Tartar city, the region's
Sahlabad, Qazyan, Qapanli, Qaynag, Askipara, Qusanli villages,
Agdam District's Ayag Qarvand, Imamqulubayli, Qaradaghli, Tazakand
villages.
Prosecutor-General Kamran Aliyev said at a briefing that since
September 27, 19 civilians had been killed as a result of Armenian
shellings. Among those killed were three women and two children;63
civilians received various degrees of injuries. The Prosecutor
General's Office launched 12 criminal cases into crimes committed
by the Armenian armed forces against civilians.
The Defense Ministry distributed footage of the destruction of
the Armenian army's military equipment and of liberated
territories.
Residents of Baku, on the balconies of their houses, celebrated
the liberation of the village of Sugovushan.
---
Sabina Mammadli is AzerNews' staff journalist, follow her on
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