By Ulvi Ahmedli
April 2016 has opened a new page in the history of the Azerbaijani Army. In the battles towards Talishkend and Lalapapa, the Azerbaijani Army seized some strategic heights.
As a result of external pressure, our army stopped fighting on April 5.
These battles occurred when I was in the army and we have been involved in the operations. I share my memories of the war with you. I was then serving at the military unit in Naftalan in the mortar battery.
Before the war, extensive military training began in March. In these exercises, we have run a war scenario in the hills.
Senior Lieutenant Novruzov Mirza (who was martyred in the battlefield) was also present at the training. He said that such trainings were held for the first time, and several military units simultaneously conducted joint training.
It should be noted that from the beginning of 2016 fierce battles took place on the front line and more than a hundred ceasefire violations were committed every day. Several times we received news about the casualties and the wounded.
Generally, we were attacked by Armenians, not only in 2016, but also in 2015, and by using artillery.
In order to prevent these attacks, the Azerbaijani Army’s consistent response came in April.
On April 1 afternoon, our troops were taken to the battlefield with an alarm signal. We were already waiting for the command in the position ready at 2 o’clock April 3.
When it comes about about 3-4 a.m., we started our mission. During the war, we hit the enemy positions by artillery.
It was the first time we were using the combat missiles because we were in reserve. If we had looked at that night from outside, we would see the joy of our soldiers.
We supported the advancement of our infantry companies by taking fire from different positions. I would also like to note that maybe every minute there was a missile shout, and after the war I got information from artillery divisions about the number of missiles they shot. I will be not mistaken if I said we attacked by missiles every minute But the enemy fires were very weak.
April 4, we were in Tapqaraqoyunlu village of Goranboy. Enemies began firing at our position by mortar. During that shooting, our commander senior lieutenant Novruzov Mirza was martyred.
His body and blood are still in front of my eyes. The death of our commander also shook the hearts of the soldiers. The officer who respected not only by our battery but the entire military unit was killed.
On the morning of April 5, we returned from our combat positions back to our base. We talked about the situation that occurred when we met with fellow soldiers from other units. They told me that three of our soldiers were martyred.
One of those names was Orujov Mushfig, my fellow soldier, we came to military service simultaneously.
We were called to the military at the same time, we had a very good attitude. Soldier Orujov will be remembered as a hardworking and kind person.
Of course, the battles ends by lost, nothing can break the spirit within us. I believe we will return to our own land anyway.
The Four-Day War or April War, began along the Nagorno-Karabakh line of contact on 2 April 2016 with the Armenian Armed Forces on one side and the Azerbaijani Armed Forces on the other. The clashes have been defined as “the worst” since the 1994 ceasefire
A ceasefire was reached on 5 April and the agreement was reached between the chiefs of the armed forces of Azerbaijan and Armenia in Moscow. The battles resulted in the conquest of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces, the hills around the Talish village of Terter and Seysulan village, Lala hill of Jabrayil region and Cocuq Marjanli, Gulustan village of Goranboy region and the ways to Madaqiz village of Terter region were captured by Azerbaijan.
Note: This article was originally published by Eurasia Diary
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