Today marks the sixth anniversary of the Tovuz battles.

Axar.az informs, citing Rеport, starting from midday on July 12, 2020, the Armenian armed forces grossly violated the ceasefire along the Tovuz district section of the Armenia–Azerbaijan state border by shelling the positions of the Azerbaijani Army. The enemy then continued to fire at Azerbaijani positions with large-caliber weapons and heavy artillery.

On July 12, movements of armored vehicles and manpower belonging to the Armenian armed forces were observed. That day, the enemy carried out a large-scale provocation on the state border. However, this provocation was prevented, and its strongholds and hundreds of servicemen were destroyed.

On the first day of the Tovuz battles, while preventing the enemy provocation, three servicemen of the Azerbaijani Army – Sergeant Vugar Sadigov, Senior Private Elshad Mammadov, and Soldier Khayyam Dashdamirov – were martyred, and five others were wounded. One of the wounded soldiers later died from his injuries. During the battles, the Armenian army suffered numerous losses in personnel.

Tension in the Tovuz direction continued into the night of July 13. In the night battles involving artillery, mortars, and tanks, the precise fire of the Azerbaijani Army destroyed the enemy's strongholds, artillery installations, vehicles, and manpower in the area of its military unit. However, the enemy tried to conceal its losses. That day, heavy artillery was again used in the Tovuz direction. During the fighting, Armenian artillery shelled the villages of Dondar Gushchu and Aghdam in Tovuz.

The Tovuz battles continued on July 14. From the morning hours, the enemy shelled the villages of Aghdam and Alibayli in the Tovuz district with large-caliber weapons and artillery. As a result of the enemy's provocative attack, Major General Polad Hashimov, Colonel Ilgar Mirzayev, and five other servicemen of the Azerbaijani Army were martyred while preventing the assault. Due to Armenia's attacks, Aziz Azizov, a 76-year-old resident of Aghdam village, was killed.

That evening, the battles subsided, and relative calm was established on the front. Although clashes quieted on July 15, fighting resumed on the morning of July 16. On that day, one Azerbaijani serviceman was martyred, while the enemy suffered heavy losses in personnel and equipment.

The Tovuz battles concluded on July 17 with the victory of the Azerbaijani Army, without any territorial losses. In total, 12 servicemen of the Azerbaijani Army heroically became martyrs in the battles – Major General Polad Hashimov, Colonel Ilgar Mirzayev, Major Namig Ahmadov, Major Anar Novruzov, Senior Lieutenant Rashad Mahmudov, Warrant Officer Ilgar Zeynalli, Warrant Officer Yashar Babayev, Sergeant Vugar Sadigov, Senior Private Elshad Mammadov, Soldier Elchin Mustafazada, Soldier Nazim Ismayilov, and Soldier Khayyam Dashdamirov.

During the Tovuz battles, mass rallies were held in support of the Azerbaijani Army. On July 14, a large-scale march took place in Baku in support of the Armed Forces and the Commander-in-Chief. In the march, the people declared at a high level that they stood by the Azerbaijani Army and the Commander-in-Chief. Responding to President Ilham Aliyev's call, tens of thousands of young people applied to the local offices of the State Service for Mobilization and Conscription, expressing their desire to voluntarily participate in the battles.

Thus, the five-day Tovuz battles, which ended in victory, paved the way for the liberation of Azerbaijan's lands that had been under occupation for many years. In August, Gurgen Alaverdyan, commander of the Armenian armed forces' sabotage-reconnaissance group and a lieutenant born in 1989, was identified and captured as a result of measures carried out by the Azerbaijani Army.

By decrees signed by President Ilham Aliyev on December 9, 2020, Polad Hashimov and Ilgar Mirzayev were awarded the title of National Hero of Azerbaijan.

Due to the intensive shelling by the Armenian armed forces, 1 million manats (approximately $588,000) were allocated from the Presidential Reserve Fund in Azerbaijan's 2020 state budget to the Ministry of Emergency Situations to eliminate the damage caused to civilians in the villages of Aghdam, Dondar Gushchu, Vahidli, Alibayli, Yukhari Oysuzlu, and Ashagi Oysuzlu in the Tovuz district. The houses and other facilities destroyed by the enemy in Tovuz were restored.

From September 27, 2020, the Azerbaijani Army launched counter-offensive operations against enemy provocations. As a result of the 44-day Patriotic War, Azerbaijan's territories that had been under occupation for nearly 30 years were liberated.

On September 19, 2023, in order to ensure the provisions of the trilateral statement, prevent large-scale provocations in the Karabakh economic region, disarm and withdraw the Armenian armed forces units from our territories, neutralize their military infrastructure, ensure the safety of civilians returning to the liberated territories, as well as civilian workers and servicemen involved in reconstruction, and restore the constitutional order of the Republic of Azerbaijan, local anti-terror measures were launched in the region.

Within just over 23 hours, the positions and long-term firing points of the Armenian armed forces units on the front line and in depth, as well as combat equipment and military facilities, were destroyed with the use of high-precision weapons. Thus, constitutional order was restored throughout the territory of Azerbaijan.