Despite a second attempt at a cease-fire, Armenia and Azerbaijan traded accusations Sunday of violating the new truce in their destructive conflict over the separatist region of Nagorno-Karabakh.
The latest truce, which was announced Saturday and took force at midnight, was the second attempt to establish a cease-fire since heavy fighting there broke out on Sept. 27. The fighting has killed hundreds and marks the biggest escalation of a decades-old conflict over the region in more than a quarter-century.
Armenian military officials on Sunday reported shelling and missile strikes by Azerbaijani forces carried out in the conflict zone overnight. In the morning, “the enemy launched an attack in the southern direction" of the conflict zone, and there were “casualties and wounded on both sides," Armenian Defense Ministry spokeswoman Shushan Stepanian said.
A woman reacts as she lays a flower at a symbolic memorial of victims of the military conflict in the separatist region of Nagorno-Karabakh at the Armenian Embassy in Moscow, Russia, Saturday, Oct. 17, 2020. Nagorno-Karabakh lies within Azerbaijan but has been under the control of ethnic Armenian forces backed by Armenia since a war there ended in 1994. The latest outburst of fighting began on Sept. 27 and has involved heavy artillery, rockets and drones, killing hundreds and marking the largest escalation of hostilities between the South Caucasus neighbors in more than a quarter-century. (AP PhotoMikhail Kirakosyan)
Azerbaijan's Defense Ministry, in turn, maintained that Armenian forces continued shelling in the conflict zone overnight despite the cease-fire and in the morning launched attacks in several directions. The ministry also accused Armenia of using large-caliber weapons to attack the positions of the Azerbaijani army in two regions north of Nagorno-Karabakh along the border between the two countries, a claim Armenian military officials denied.
Nagorno-Karabakh lies within Azerbaijan but has been under the control of ethnic Armenian forces backed by Armenia since a war there ended in 1994.
The fighting has drawn worldwide concern now because oil-rich Azerbaijan has new military weapons and the strong backing of Turkey. Armenia claims that Turkey is sending Syrian mercenaries into the fighting to help Azerbaijan, an allegation that Turkey denies.
A man wearing a military uniform stands inside a house destroyed by shelling during a military conflict in Stepanakert in the separatist region of Nagorno-Karabakh, Saturday, Oct. 17, 2020. Stepanakert, the regional capital of Nagorno-Karabakh, came under intense shelling overnight, leaving three civilians wounded, according to separatist authorities. (David Ghahramanyan, NKR InfoCenterPAN Photo via AP)
A mannequin placed on shards of glass in a clothing store after shelling during a military conflict in Stepanakert in the separatist region of Nagorno-Karabakh, Saturday, Oct. 17, 2020. Stepanakert, the regional capital of Nagorno-Karabakh, came under intense shelling overnight, leaving three civilians wounded, according to separatist authorities. (David Ghahramanyan, NKR InfoCenterPAN Photo via AP)
Yury Melkonyan visits his son wounded from shelling by Azerbaijan's artillery in a hospital, during a military conflict in Stepanakert, the separatist region of Nagorno-Karabakh, Saturday, Oct. 17, 2020. The latest outburst of fighting between Azerbaijani and Armenian forces began Sept. 27 and marked the biggest escalation of the decades-old conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh. The region lies in Azerbaijan but has been under control of ethnic Armenian forces backed by Armenia since the end of a separatist war in 1994. (AP Photo)