Artsakh Ministry of Defense: Azerbaijani Drone Fires at Armenian Positions Using Primitive Grenade-in-Glass Tactic

STEPANAKERT, Artsakh (A.W.)—An Azerbaijani drone fired at Artsakh Army positions on Saturday afternoon, in the northern portion of the line of contact (LoC) between Artsakh and Azerbaijan.

According to the Artsakh Defense Ministry (MoD), an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) opened fire at around 2:50 p.m. on Jan. 20. The Artsakh Defense Army did not suffer losses as a result of the attack.

“Ignoring the commitments reached at meetings held in Krakow under the auspices of the OSCE [Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe] Minsk Group, which called on the sides to take confidence-building measures, the adversary has made another provocation,” read a part of the MoD’s statement, which included photographs of the aftermath of the Azerbaijani operation.

The following day, on Jan. 21, the Artsakh MoD published a second statement, which announced that the Artsakh Defense Army had uncovered that a hand grenade embedded in an ordinary drinking glass was used by the UAV instead of a mortar shell.

“It is tragic that Azerbaijan, which constantly boasts its four billion dollar military budget, uses ‘military technology’…which was used by the Afghan Mujahideen in the 20^th century and later by Islamic State terrorists,” read a part of the Jan. 21 statement, which included photographs of the retrieved pieces of glass and grenade shrapnel.

Artsakh’s MoD also announced that Artsakh’s armed forces continue to maintain control of the LoC and “confidently carry out combat duty,” and called on Azerbaijan’s military and political leadership to avoid aggravating the situation with its “adventurist tactics.”