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Image posted, Reuters
The disputed area witnessed two weeks of heavy fighting.
Russia and the European Union have called on Armenia and Azerbaijan to respect the Nagorno Karabakh ceasefire, which was supposed to go into effect on Saturday.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said the truce must be strictly enforced, Meanwhile, the European Union expressed grave concern over reports of new military operations against civilians.
The news was reported The renewed exchange of bombings between Armenia and Azerbaijan, a few hours after the ceasefire took effect.
The explosions hit Stepanakert, the capital of the disputed Nagorno Karabakh region, on Saturday night, according to Armenian eyewitnesses and media.
The two sides had previously exchanged accusations of violating the Moscow-sponsored temporary truce after two weeks of fighting.
“We are watching with great concern,” said the European Union’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell. Reports on continued military activities, including against civilian targets, as well as civilian casualties in breach of the agreement, “according to a statement issued Sunday.
More than 300 people have died and thousands have been displaced since the recent outbreak of violence in the protracted conflict that resumed on September 27.
Karabakh separatist leader Araik Harutyunyan told AFP that the situation had become “calmer” on Sunday, but warned that the truce was unstable.
An apartment building in the Azerbaijani city of Ganja was destroyed overnight in what officials described as an Armenian missile attack, which killed seven people and wounded dozens.
Armenia described the reports of the bombing as “an outright lie.”
A fragile ceasefire would have allowed the two countries to exchange prisoners and recover bodies from the latest round of fighting.
The Armenians control Nagorno-Karabakh even though it is officially part of Azerbaijan.
The two former Soviet republics blamed the latest outbreak of violence, the worst in decades.
For her part, American actress Kim Kardashian West, who is of Armenian descent, announced on social media that she has donated one million dollars to the Armenian victims of the conflict.
Mutual accusations
In a tweet, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev denounced “a flagrant violation of the ceasefire” and a “war crime”.
“The Armenian armed forces do not respect the humanitarian truce and missile and artillery attacks continue in cities and towns,” said Waqif Diyargahli, a spokesman for the Azerbaijan Defense Ministry. In Azerbaijan “.
On the other hand, a spokesman for the Armenian Defense Ministry, Shushan Stepanian, said: “The Azerbaijani forces are violating the ceasefire agreement by launching attacks in the south with armored vehicles and missiles. (Separatist units) have firmly eliminated the hostile actions “.
On Monday, Armenian Foreign Minister Zahrab Mnatsakyanian, who fought with his Azerbaijani counterpart in the negotiations that led to the armistice, will return to Moscow on Monday and meet with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, his spokesman confirmed to AFP. .
He is also planning to meet with representatives of the Minsk Group (Russia, France and the United States), but the date has not yet been set.
The foreign ministers of Turkey and Russia called, according to a Russian statement after a phone call, for “strict respect of all provisions” of the agreement.
How was the ceasefire achieved?
The deal was reached after 10 hours of talks in the Russian capital Moscow. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said the two countries would now begin “substantive” talks.
However, Armenian Foreign Minister Zahrab Mnatsakyanian later described the talks as “somewhat difficult” and said Armenia wants to recognize Nagorno Karabakh internationally as an independent country.
Self-proclaimed officials in Karabakh repeated this call, accusing Azerbaijan of using the ceasefire talks as a cover to prepare for further attacks.
Meanwhile, Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jihon Bayramov said that not enough pressure was exerted on Armenia during the talks and that the situation in Nagorno Karabakh could not remain as it is.
He added that Azerbaijan hopes to control more territory and that the ceasefire will continue only until the Red Cross organizes the exchange of bodies.
Turkey, which supports Azerbaijan, said the truce was Armenia’s “last chance” to withdraw its forces from the disputed territories.
Russia has a military base in Armenia, both of which are members of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO).
Image posted, EPA
The two countries, mediated by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, took 10 hours to agree on a ceasefire.
However, Moscow also has good relations with Azerbaijan.
What happened after the ceasefire went into effect?
The Armenian Defense Ministry said Azerbaijani forces launched an attack five minutes after the scheduled time for the armistice to take effect, with Armenian forces responding, and that they attacked a city.
Meanwhile, the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry said Armenia is “flagrantly violating the ceasefire” and firing at the Tatar and Agdam regions in Azerbaijan.
Armenia denied it.
Heavy fighting also broke out before the ceasefire. Unilaterally declared ethnic Armenian authorities in Nagorno Karabakh said Azerbaijan fired missiles at civilian neighborhoods in the main city, Stepanakert, while Armenia accused Azerbaijani forces of intensifying drone attacks.
For its part, Azerbaijan said Armenia shelled populated areas near Nagorno-Karabakh and said it was responding to fire.
On Thursday, Armenia accused Azerbaijan of bombing a historic cathedral in Nagorno-Karabakh.
The photos showed massive damage to the Cathedral of the Holy Savior in the city of Shusha (known as Shushi in Armenian).
Image posted, Reuters
Thousands have been displaced so far by the conflict
At the same time, Azerbaijan said that Ganja, its second largest city, and the Goranboy region were shelled by Armenian forces, killing at least one civilian.
In a statement sent to the BBC earlier this week, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan warned of “genocide” in the region, calling it “Armenia, the land of the Armenians.”
Authorities said the fighting has displaced half of Nagorno-Karabakh’s population, or about 70,000 people.
Stepanakert was bombarded for several days as residents took refuge in basements, leaving many parts of the city without power.
Armenia and Azerbaijan fought a war in Nagorno-Karabakh between 1988-1994 and finally declared a ceasefire. However, they did not reach an agreement on the dispute.
