Azerbaijan reclaims land occupied by Armenia

Azerbaijan's defence ministry says occupied land in Nagorno-Karabakh region has been reclaimed from Armenia in recent clashes

Armenian and Karabakh armed forces hold joint military exercises near the town of Tigranakert in November 2014.
TRT World and Agencies

Armenian and Karabakh armed forces hold joint military exercises near the town of Tigranakert in November 2014.

Azerbaijan says it has reclaimed land occupied by Armenia during clashes over Friday and Saturday which left 12 Azerbaijani soldiers dead.

According to a statement from Azerbaijan's defence ministry, the army launched operations in the Agdere, Terter, Agdam, Hocavend and Fuzuli regions to protect civilian lives.

The ministry added that its forces had reclaimed some strategic hills and residential zones.

Azerbaijan's defence ministry also said six Armenian tanks and 15 cannons were destroyed and more than 100 Armenian soldiers killed or injured.

The statement also said one of its MI-24 helicopters had been downed by Armenian forces.

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called his Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Aliyev on Saturday to pay condolences for the soldiers martyred by Armenian forces along the border.

Armenia and Azerbaijan fought a six-year war over occupied Karabakh in the early 1980s until a 1994 ceasefire.

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