Drones were spotted over various parts of Baku overnight. As speculation of their origin spread, several pro-government media outlets claimed they were Azerbaijani drones conducting routine monitoring of the country’s airspace.
The pro-government media outlet Qafqazinfo cited military expert Adalat Verdiyev as claiming the drones were Azerbaijani.
‘The drones spotted this evening in the skies over Baku belong to Azerbaijan. The flights are aimed at monitoring the capital’s airspace and ensuring security. Similar flights have been conducted before. There is no cause for concern’, said Verdiyev.
Later, the Defence Ministry responded to a request for comment from Public TV, claiming that the drones had been used for training purposes over a period of several days.
‘There is no cause for concern’, the ministry said.
However, the ministry did not issue any warnings prior to what they claimed were the training missions, prompting scepticism on social media.
The news comes amidst heightened regional tension connected with the war in Iran, which has already spilled into Azerbaijan. Earlier in March, several drones — that Baku said came from Iran — struck the Azerbaijani exclave of Nakhchivan, wounding at least four people. Iran has repeatedly denied it launched the drones.
Since then, the temperature between Baku and Tehran appears to have cooled, with Azerbaijan announcing on 10 March it had provided humanitarian aid to Iran.
Javid Agha
