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As the fight for the disputed region enters its second month, mediators from other states are trying to end the fighting on the front lines and the shooting of civilian territory, which has claimed hundreds of lives, as soon as possible.
Washington on Sunday announced the latest “humanitarian ceasefire” after the collapse of previous initiatives of this kind, which were tested across Russia and France.
The first reports of violations sounded less than an hour after 8 pm local time (6:00 pm Lithuania) when the ceasefire regime would take effect.
The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry said that Armenian forces had fired on the city of Terter and nearby villages, “seriously violating” the ceasefire regime.
The Armenian Defense Ministry, for its part, claimed that Azerbaijani forces had “seriously violated” the ceasefire by firing artillery cannons at military positions in various parts of the front.
Azerbaijan and Armenia are embroiled in a fierce conflict for control of Nagorno-Karabakh, with Yerevan-backed separatists occupying this mountainous province during the war in the 1990s, which claimed some 30,000 lives. human lives.
The Nagorno-Karabakh declaration of independence is not recognized by any state, not even Armenia, and the region remains part of Azerbaijan under international law.
The current battle broke out on September 27. Armenia and Azerbaijan accuse each other of attacking civilian objects and violating previous ceasefires. The constant calls to refrain from violence do not seem to have any effect on the real situation.
Since the beginning of the fighting, Stepanakert, the heavily bombed capital of Nagorno-Karabakh, has been calmer in recent days.
Reporters from the AFP news agency reported Monday that it was quiet last night. Ten minutes before the ceasefire went into effect, an explosion broke out and a ball of smoke rose over a nearby hill.
On Monday morning, fewer fighting noises were heard from the front line than in previous days, although shots still rang out from afar.
“Intensive” negotiations
More than 1,000 people have reportedly been killed in the clashes, mostly Armenian separatist fighters, but several dozen civilians are among the victims.
Azerbaijan has not made public the losses of its army, so the actual number of casualties is probably much higher. As Russian President Vladimir Putin said last week, the renewed conflict has already claimed nearly 5,000 lives. human lives.
Russia, along with France and the United States, leads the so-called Minsk Group, which has failed to find a solution to the conflict since the 1990s.
The fighting that broke out this year is the worst since the 1994 ceasefire, raising fears that Azerbaijan’s ally Turkey and Russia, which has formed a defense alliance with Armenia, may become more involved in the conflict.
The latest ceasefire was announced during a meeting between US Undersecretary of State Stephen Biegun in Washington with Armenian Foreign Minister Zograb Mnacakian and his Azerbaijani counterpart Ceyhun Bayramov, as well as with the Presidents. of the Minsk group.
The Secretary of State of the United States, Mike Pompeo, wrote in the social network Twitter that the conversations were “intense”.
The State Department noted that the presidents of the Minsk Group and the foreign ministers “agreed to meet again in Geneva on October 29” to discuss “all the necessary steps to reach a peaceful solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.”
Baku claims it has achieved significant victories since the beginning of the fighting, reclaiming areas lost during the 1990s war, particularly in the Armenian-controlled buffer zone around the disputed region.
Armenia has admitted to taking losses and is urging volunteers to contribute to the fighting at the front.
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