At a press conference today in Ijevan, Crisis Information Center Press Secretary Artsrun Hovhannisyan announced Armenian military forces repelled an Azerbaijani incursion along the Armenian-Azerbaijani border in Armenia’s northeastern Tavush Province last night.

Hovhannisyan told reporters that that 100 Azerbaijani special forces soldiers, aided by artillery fire, attempted to attack an Armenian military outpost in the area. The Azerbaijani unit retreated after losing some of their armored equipment.

Fighting broke out along the Tavush border on July 12. A 24-hour ceasefire had gone into effect yesterday.

“They have already admitted their losses in the morning, but it is not clear yet how many people were involved. Afterwards, they tried to take revenge on the civilian population, and continued shelling the villages of Tavush," Hovhannisyan said.

Tavush Governor Hayk Chobanyan was also present at the press conference.

"The shelling of the villages started early in the morning. The villages of Nerkin Karmiraghbyur, Chinari, Aygepar, Movses, and the town of Berd were targeted. Now, it is relatively calm there," Chobanyan said.

Hovhannisyan stressed that during the night operations the Armenian military suffered no losses or wounded soldiers, and that the Armenian civilian population escaped the shelling unscathed.

Speaking about the Armenian wounded of the previous days, Hovhannisyan noted that there is one soldier in extremely serious condition.

According to the governor, more than ten private homes, as well as some infrastructure, were damaged in the early morning shelling today.

"I especially want to mention the shelling of the Aygepar kindergarten, and the damage done to the water supply pipeline in the Nerkin Karmiraghbyur section. Work is underway to fix the pipeline. All civil defense groups have been mobilized and work is being carried out for the security of civilians. Our citizens were mainly in shelters and basements. Fortunately, we have no wounded or victims," Chobyan said., adding that residents Chobanyan will receive one-time financial assistance to compensate for the damage.

Photo: Aygepar kindergarten before the shelling