“The operation to liberate Gubadli district took several days. After the liberation of Zangilan on 20 October, of course, our next destination was Gubadli district. The Armenians had built strong fortifications in the city,” said President of Azerbaijan, Victorious Commander-in-Chief Ilham Aliyev in his speech during his visit to the liberated city of Gubadli.

The head of state said: “At the entrance to the city, the enemy had set up a military base. This is why it was not easy to liberate the city of Gubadli. First of all, Armenian fortifications had to be destroyed, and one of them was located in Khanlig settlement. They had built strong fortifications there and turned Khanlig settlement into a base for themselves. The Armenians living abroad had built a settlement there. But it is Azerbaijani soldiers who are stationed in this settlement now. Armenians were brought here from abroad with the money of the Armenian diaspora and were illegally settled in Gubadli. This is a war crime in itself. The Armenian state will be held accountable for this and all other crimes.”

“In order to liberate Gubadli, we first had to seize these heights because the enemy was regularly firing on our soldiers from these heights. At the same time, we were fired on from the territory of Armenia proper. Azerbaijan did not intend to move into the territory of Armenia, and I have repeatedly stated this during the war. They believed that they could use these opportunities to stop our attack. The distance from here, from the city of Gubadli, to the Armenian border over there is 5 kilometers. They fired on our soldiers with heavy artillery both from there and from these heights, using various weapons. Therefore, the Gubadli operation required special professionalism and self-sacrifice. And the Azerbaijani Army showed this professionalism and self-sacrifice. First of all, we took the heights dominating the city, the surrounding villages, including Khanlig settlement, Padar, Sariyatag, Mahmudlu villages, and other strategic heights. After that, the Azerbaijani Armed Forces entered the city and cleared it of the enemy,” President Ilham Aliyev added.

Azertac.az