'Armenia moving S-300 missile systems to border areas'

ANKARA

Armenia has started relocating its S-300 missile systems from the capital Yerevan to border areas along occupied Azerbaijani territory, Azerbaijan’s Defense Ministry said on Tuesday.

“According to our intelligence information, the S-300 anti-aircraft missile systems that were defending the airspace of Yerevan have been removed from combat duty and are moving in the direction of the occupied territories,” said Col. Vagif Dargahli, head of the ministry’s press service.

He asserted that the missile systems will meet the same fate as the other military equipment destroyed by the Azerbaijani army in the Upper Karabakh area, reported Azertac, Azerbaijan's state news agency.

Dargahli said the recent clashes had once again laid bare the “myth” of the Armenian army being an “invincible” force.

He said the Azerbaijani army had neutralized one more Armenian tank in battles around the occupied Goyarkh village in Aghdara district.

The officer said Azerbaijan’s operations have “completely demoralized” the Armenian army’s regiment in Madagiz.

“Their soldiers are in a panic. Many of them, including the newly arrived reserves, are refusing to join the battle and are leaving the combat area,” Dargahli said.

Border clashes broke out early Sunday when Armenian forces targeted Azerbaijani civilian settlements and military positions in the occupied Upper Karabakh, also known as Nagorno-Karabakh, region.

At least 12 civilians have died and 35 more have been injured in Armenian attacks so far, according to Azerbaijani authorities.

Azerbaijan’s parliament declared a state of war in some areas, and authorities later announced partial military mobilization.

Relations between the two former Soviet nations have been tense since 1991, when the Armenian military occupied Upper Karabakh, an internationally recognized territory of Azerbaijan.

Four UN Security Council and two UN General Assembly resolutions, as well as many international organizations, demand the withdrawal of the occupying forces.

The OSCE Minsk Group – co-chaired by France, Russia, and the US – was formed in 1992 to find a peaceful solution to the conflict, but to no avail. A cease-fire, however, was agreed upon in 1994.

France, Russia and NATO, among others, have urged an immediate halt to clashes in the occupied region.