Azerbaijan Army’s Troops launched a counter-offensive operation along the entire front, Azerbaijan’s Defense Ministry announced in a statement on Sunday.

“The command staff of the Azerbaijan Army decided to launch a counter-offensive operation of our troops along the entire front to suppress the combat activity of the armed forces of Armenia and ensure the safety of the civilian population,” the Ministry said.

The Ministry stated that the military personnel and tank units, with the support of units of the Rocket and Artillery Troops, frontline aviation, and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), determining a large number of manpower (military personnel), military facilities, and military equipment of the Armenian armed forces located in the forward line and in the depths of the enemy's defense, have destroyed them.

“According to the information received, 12 OSA anti-aircraft missile systems of the Armenian air defense units were destroyed in various directions. A combat helicopter of the Air Force of Azerbaijan was shot down in the Terter direction, the crew members are alive,” the Ministry added.

Garabagh is one of the most ancient historic areas of Azerbaijan. The name of Garabagh, an integral part of Azerbaijan, is derived from the words 'gara' and 'bagh' in the Azerbaijani language. The collocation of the words «gara» and «bagh» has a history as ancient as the history of the Azerbaijani people. It is an undeniable and undisputable truth that this collocation is universally recognized as pertinent to a specific area of Azerbaijan.

In the late 1991, as the USSR collapsed, the former Soviet Union countries were facing a new geopolitical reality. Armenia practically waged an open and unjust war on Azerbaijan. Armenian troops breached Azerbaijan's state borders and entered Garabagh, and, having united with the Armenian separatists / terrorists of Nagorno Garabagh, started occupying Azerbaijani lands. (ILKHA)