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Fighting continues in the conflict region in the South Caucasus. But now there is a new hope to end the bloodshed.
In the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, there is new hope that the bloodshed will end: the Armenian government announced on Saturday night that it had agreed to a ceasefire with Azerbaijan. A spokeswoman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Armenia announced on Twitter that the “humanitarian ceasefire” should take effect from 12:00 am local time on Sunday (10:00 pm CEST).
In reality, the weapons should have been silent in the conflict region in the Caucasus for a week, but the Azerbaijani side reported new intense attacks from Armenia in the city of Ganja on Sunday night. The civil protection ministry of the capital Baku announced that 13 people were killed in the rocket fire. Armenia also blamed the neighboring country for the attacks. Russia warned that the ceasefire must be strictly observed.
13 dead, more than 50 injured
The 13 bodies were found, for example, under the rubble of destroyed houses. In addition, there were more than 50 injured. Images distributed by Azerbaijan showed rescuers searching for survivors in destroyed houses. Search dogs were also used. Authorities spoke of considerable damage.
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev called the attack a war crime on television and threatened to hold the Armenian leadership accountable. Armenia, however, rejected a responsibility and, in return, accused its belligerent neighbor of being behind the attack and of using it as “propaganda” against the Armenians.
Armenia, in turn, reported rocket attacks by Azerbaijan, including the capital of Nagorno-Karabakh. At least three civilians were injured in Stepanakert. Both parties accused each other of having violated the ceasefire again. It happened last Saturday with the mediation of Russia.
The Azerbaijani army also announced that it had shot down an Armenian fighter plane. The Armenian Defense Ministry immediately denied this and stated that it had shot down two drones on the opposite side.
Azerbaijan reported new territorial gains at the front. Aliyev also said that his army had taken control of the city of Fizuli and seven surrounding villages. This region borders Nagorno-Karabakh and was occupied by Armenia.
Decades of conflict
The two former Soviet republics have been fighting for decades over the mountainous region of about 145,000 people. Armenia controls Nagorno-Karabakh, but under international law it belongs to Islamic Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan lost control of the area in a war that followed the collapse of the Soviet Union some 30 years ago. Since 1994 there has been a fragile ceasefire.
Thousands of people have fled the mountainous region, which is inhabited predominantly by Armenian Christians from Karabakh. The Armenian Defense Ministry said that more than 600 soldiers had been killed since the new fighting began on September 27. So far, Azerbaijan has not provided any information on losses in its armed forces. More than 50 civilians were killed in Armenian attacks.
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