The Ministry Of Defense of Armenian announced on October 1 that three Azerbaijani fighter jets and two helicopters had been shot down over the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh.
The ministry said on Twitter the warplanes were shot down by the air-defense units of the Artsakh Defense Army in the southeastern part of Nagorno-Karabakh, where a fierce battle with the Azerbaijan Armed Forces is taking place. One of the downed helicopters allegedly fell within Iran’s territory.
In a statement, the Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan dismissed the Armenian claims, calling them “complete nonsense and fake news.”
The Armenian Unified Infocenter shared photos of an Israel-made IAI Harop that was shot down near a residential area in the outskirt of Askeran city. Over the last two days, IAI Harop loitering munitions were heavily used against Armenian forces in Nagorno-Karabakh.
One of the #Azerbaijan/i drones downed by the Defense Army in the city of #Askeran. The UAV target was again a peaceful settlement. The UAV was downed near a residential area.
Фото одного из сбитых в Аскеране азербайджанских БПЛА который был снова нацелен на населённый пункт. pic.twitter.com/pqdcrcquGa— Armenian Unified Infocenter (@ArmenianUnified) October 1, 2020
Later, Shushan Stepanyan, Press-Secretary of the Armenian MoD, shared a video showing the downing of what appears to be an Azerbaijani An-2 aircraft. According to some observers, the Azerbaijani military turned a number of An-2s into drones.
Destruction of an Azerbaijani drone. pic.twitter.com/Oi1yG1wpn3
— Shushan Stepanyan (@ShStepanyan) October 1, 2020
The Armenian claims of shooting down three Azerbaijani fighter jets and two helicopters appear to be untrue. However, air defense units in Nagorno-Karabakh are without a doubt still active.
The Azerbaijani military is still operating with much freedom in Nagorno-Karabakh airspace. Turkey is allegedly playing an active role in aerial operations over the region.
