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The OSCE Chairman-in-Office, the Swiss Foreign Minister Didier Burkhalter expressed concern about the deaths and injuries among military personnel and civilians on the contact line of Karabakh conflict zone, “Trend” reports.

"As the OSCE chairman, I strongly encourage the sides to make full use of the valuable opportunity provided by visits by OSCE teams to the border and Line of Contact for direct communication with one another, with a view to reducing tensions," Burkhalter told.

On the night of January 19 to 20 YTD, in the northeast (Jraberd) and southeast (Corgan) areas attempts of penetration of subversive groups of Azerbaijani Armed Forces have been registered at the contact line between NKR and Azerbaijani Armed forces. "Advanced units of the NKR Armed forces spotted the actions of Azerbaijani subversive groups. Taking up organized defensive tactics in both directions and inflicting heavy losses, the Armenian soldiers threw the enemy back to their original positions. As a result of a shootout, Sergeant Armen Hovhannisyan died from a gunshot while bravely performing combat tasks," read the statement of the NKR Ministry of Defense. On 20 January Artsakh Republic President Bako Sahakyan signed a decree on awarding posthumously NKR Defense Army's N division's junior sergeant Armen Hovhannisyan for bravery shown during the defense of the NKR state border with the "For Courage" medal.

According to the unofficial sources, during the sabotage attempt the Azerbaijani troops lost 5-6 people who were killed and several people – wounded.

After the Azerbaijani sabotage the situation on the border escalated. On January 24 press service of the Defense Ministry of Azerbaijan spread information that the Azerbaijani Air Force, due to the fact that the situation has worsened on the border carry out overflies along the frontline. Commenting on the information of Defense Ministry of Azerbaijan, the head of the press service of the Defense Army of Nagorno-Karabakh Republic Senor Hasratyan told Panorama.am in an interview that "the NKR defense forces keep an around the clock alert, defending the NKR airspace confidently." Senor Hasatryan also noted that the Azerbaijani Air Force planes carried out flights in the airspace of Azerbaijan, and the air defense forces of the NKR Defense Army monitor the situation vigilantly.

Russian Foreign Ministry, U.S. State Department, the OSCE Minsk Group and the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office Andrzej Kasprzyk expressed their concern about the situation.