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Armenian fighters in Nagorno-Karabakh said the Azerbaijani army launched a new offensive just five minutes after the ceasefire took effect at noon. Both parties to the conflict rejected the accusations of the other party. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said the parties were in the process of finding a political solution. This suggested that the agreed ceasefire was not completely over.
After days of fighting over the southern Caucasus region, Nagorno-Karabakh, it has been in effect since Saturday at 10:00 am CEST (12:00 pm local time). The agreement came after hours of negotiations in Moscow with Russian mediation. Hundreds of people have died on both sides since fighting began between Azerbaijani and Armenian forces in late September. The current fighting is the most intense since the 1991-1994 war, in which around 30,000 people died. The war ended with an armistice, which was repeatedly violated.
Most of the Armenian Christians live in Nagorno-Karabakh in the South Caucasus. However, according to international law, the area belongs to predominantly Islamic Azerbaijan, which it renounced in 1991. Hundreds of people are said to have died in clashes that broke out in late September. Since Armenia is allied with Russia and Azerbaijan is supported by Turkey, the conflict threatens to spread beyond the region, with far-reaching consequences for the economy. Important oil and gas pipelines run through the southern Caucasus.
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