A Turkish F-16 fighter aircraft flying over the Nagorno-Karabakh region shot down an Armenian Su-25 fighter, an Armenian defense ministry spokesperson has said.
The shootdown occurred while F-16 fighters were carrying out bombing and missile strikes against settlements and ground units of the Armenian Armed Forces, according to the Armenian defense ministry.
Turkish F-16s took off from the Ganja airport from the Republic of Azerbaijan at around 10:30 am, local time. The Armenian defense ministry said it employed surface-to-air missile fire, adding that the Su-25 was shot down during ensuing air battles.
Turkey is yet to make a statement on the event.
Armenia disclosed the shootdown several hours after saying it had shot down an Azerbaijani Orbiter unmanned aerial system and a helicopter earlier in the day.
Over the course of the past days that saw both sides declare a state of war, Azerbaijani Armed Forces have neutralized a number of Armenian air defense systems and tanks while losing tanks and manned and unmanned aircraft.
The conflict has been marked by heavy use of unmanned aerial systems from both sides. An illustration is the video shared by Azerbaijan’s defense ministry showing a Bayraktar TB2 armed UAS destroying Armenian T-72B3 main battle tanks.
Tensions between the two sides flared earlier this year, which has seen the most intense hostilities in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict in four years. The conflict in the region, which is recognized as part of Azerbaijan but de-facto controlled by the breakaway Republic of Artsakh, has been ongoing since 1988.
Tuesday marks the third day of fighting, which has resulted in the deaths of dozens of soldiers and at least 11 civilians. The international community has urged both sides to cease hostilities while France is calling for an urgent meeting of the Minsk Group, which Russia, France and the US are part of.
