Chronicle of the Patriotic War: October 18
In response to the large-scale provocations committed by Armenian armed forces along entire length of the front, the Azerbaijani Army on September 27, 2020, launched a counter-offensive which then dubbed as “Iron Fist”. The 44-day war has put an end to the almost thirty years of occupation and ensured the restoration of the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan. The bright victory achieved under leadership of the Commander-in-Chief Ilham Aliyev has been written in the history of Azerbaijan in golden letters.
“Azerbaijan’s Armed Forces raised the Azerbaijani flag over the ancient Khudafarin bridge,” President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev made a post on his official Twitter account.
First Vice-President Mehriban Aliyeva made an Instagram post on the occasion of liberation from the occupation of the city of Fuzuli and several villages of Fuzuli district.
The Azerbaijani flag was raised in the center of liberated from the occupation Fuzuli city.
"As a result of actions taken by the Azerbaijan Army yesterday, the enemy's manpower, 2 missile guiding stations of the S-300 anti-aircraft missile system, 5 T-72 tanks, 3 BM-21 "Grad" MLRS, 2 "Smerch" MLRS, 1 D-20 gun-howitzer, 1 KS-19 anti-aircraft gun, and 6 vehicles were destroyed and disabled in different directions of the front.
Azerbaijan shot down an Armenian Su-25 aircraft that was attempting to launch airstrikes on the positions of the Azerbaijan Army in the Jabrayil direction.
Azerbaijan`s Ministry of Defense released a video footage highlighting special forces, thrown into the trenches by Armenia as the last remaining force, who were compelled to flee, unable to withstand the attack of the Azerbaijan soldiers.
According to the Ministry of Defense, during the successful combat operations of the Azerbaijan Army in the Fuzuli direction, the military unit of the Armenian armed forces was seized by the units of the Azerbaijan Army.
A tactical unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) of the Armenian armed forces, attempted to carry out a flight in the Horadiz direction, was immediately detected and destroyed by the Azerbaijan Air Defense units.
The Armenian military units tried to launch rockets in the direction of Khizi district, located more than 300 kilometers away from the area of hostilities. As a result of neutralization by air defense forces of the Azerbaijani army, some of the explosive particles inside the rocket were scattered over a distance of 250 meters from the part of the Baku-Novorossiysk oil pipeline passing through Sitalchay village in Khizi district.
EVERY MOMENT OF THE VICTORY
On September 27, 2020, the Armenian armed forces carried out a large-scale provocation and subjected the positions of the Azerbaijani Army in the frontline zone and human settlements to intensive fire from weapons, mortars and other artillery devices. As a result, in order to prevent the combat activeness of the Armenian army and ensure the security of civilians, the Azerbaijani Army Command decided to launch a counter-attack operation across the frontline. The confrontations escalated quickly and turned into the Second Karabakh War.
During the 44-day war with the Republic of Armenia, Jabrayil was liberated on October 4, Fuzuli - on October 17, Zangilan - on October 20, Gubadli - on October 25 and Shusha - on November 8. In accordance with the statement signed in Moscow, starting from 01:00 Baku time, November 10, it was declared that the military operations in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone were completely terminated, until December 1, Armenia would withdraw from the Azerbaijani territories around Nagorno-Karabakh, and the construction of new transport communications connecting Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic with Azerbaijan's western regions would be ensured.
On November 20, 2020, Aghdam was liberated, on November 25 - Kalbajar, on December 1 - Lachin.
The short chronicles of 44 days