STEPANAKERT, DECEMBER 28, ARMENPRESS. The search and rescue teams of Artsakh’s State Service of Emergency Situations were barred from entering Hadrut.

“As planned, three teams were departing for search and rescue operations in the Hadrut direction,” State Service of Emergency Situations spokesperson Hunan Tadevosyan told ARMENPRESS. “We couldn’t contact the teams in the morning, however a short while ago we contacted them and it turned out that they weren’t allowed to go any further from the outskirts of the Shekher village. They are now returning.”

Several Azerbaijani news outlets reported earlier about alleged resumption of battles between Armenian and Azerbaijani troops near the village of Togh of the Hadrut region. The reports mention victims and wounded.

The Ministry of Defense of Armenia commented on the reports, noting:

“We remind that the village of Togh is under the complete control of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces.

The Artsakh Defense Army is strictly adhering to the ceasefire, no unit has taken part in any action in the given section, moreover, no emergency incident relating to the Artsakh Defense Army units was recorded.

Nevertheless, the Armenian side is attempting to find out additional information, not ruling out the possibility that we are dealing with an Azerbaijani information provocation.”

Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan