[ad_1]
The UN Security Council renewed its call on Armenia and Azerbaijan to respect the “humanitarian truce” in the Nagorno-Karabakh region.
During a closed-door meeting, members of the UN Security Council called on both Armenia and Azerbaijan to respect a new truce they had agreed to in Nagorno Karabakh, the separatist region where fighting between the two sides has left hundreds of of deaths since September 27.
During the meeting, which was held at the request of France, Russia and the United States, the fifteen members of the Council reiterated the call made by the Secretary General of the United Nations, António Guterres, to the two parties to respect the “humanitarian truce” that supposed to go into effect on Sunday.
“They all shared the same point of view: the situation is bad and both parties should back down and respond to the Secretary General’s calls for a ceasefire,” a United Nations diplomat told AFP.
According to diplomats, Russia, which currently holds the rotating presidency of the Security Council, is working to issue a statement calling for commitment to the ceasefire.
The draft declaration, on which Council members are expected to agree this week, also calls on Armenia and Azerbaijan to resume negotiations sponsored by the Minsk Group.
Russia, France, and the United States preside over the Minsk group, which was established by the OSCE in 1992 to find a solution to this regional conflict.
The humanitarian truce was supposed to start at midnight from Sunday to Monday (20:00 GMT Sunday), but Azerbaijan’s Defense Ministry said Monday morning that Armenian separatist forces shelled the lands of the Agjabirdi region and at night the areas of Ghananboy, Tatar and Agdam.
For their part, the Nagorno Karabakh authorities accused Azerbaijan of firing artillery at night “against various sectors of the front” and continuing their attacks in the morning. “The Karabakh army is taking proportionate measures,” he said.
The new truce was announced after one of the harshest attacks on civilians on Saturday, when a missile hit a residential area in Ganja, Azerbaijan’s second city, killing 13 people, including children.
And the resumption of fighting three weeks ago resulted in the deaths of more than 800 people, according to official figures released by the two sides. But the losses are believed to be much higher, as Azerbaijan has not announced any military tolls.
Yerevan announced that 710 Armenian soldiers and 36 civilians were killed in the fighting. Baku says 60 Azerbaijani civilians were killed.
Before the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, the Nagorno-Karabakh region, with the majority of its Armenian population, was separated from Azerbaijan. A ceasefire was declared in 1994, but clashes continue to renew from time to time.
