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Regardless of international calls to comply with the new ceasefire, intense fighting continues in the South Caucasus region of Nagorno-Karabakh, according to authorities. Neighboring warring countries Azerbaijan and Armenia blamed each other for massive shelling in the conflict region on Tuesday.
The authorities of the unrecognized republic of Nagorno-Karabakh announced that there were rocket and artillery fire from the Azerbaijani side. The Defense Ministry in the Azerbaijani capital Baku accused Armenia of firing first. Among other things, the Terter region is affected.
“That is an outright lie, Azerbaijan is preparing the ground for aggressive actions against peace-loving communities,” said a spokeswoman for the Armenian Defense Ministry in Yerevan. The enemy was attacked from all directions, it was said.
The number of civilians killed had risen to 31, Nagorno-Karabakh authorities said. The number of Karabakh soldiers killed is 525. So far, Azerbaijan has not provided any information on the losses in its own ranks. Many civilians died there too.
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said the ceasefire agreed on Saturday night would not be maintained. The foreign ministers of the two countries reached the agreement through Russian mediation in Moscow, but it was broken shortly after its entry into force. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov urged on Monday that the ceasefire be respected.
The two former Soviet republics have been fighting for decades over the mountainous region, which is home to some 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. It is inhabited by Armenian Christians from Karabakh. Since 1994 there has been a fragile ceasefire. Turkey is on the side of Azerbaijan in the conflict, while Armenia sees Russia as a protective power. (apa, dpa)
