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Soldiers and firefighters search for survivors in a residential area that was hit by artillery attacks in Ganja, Azerbaijan, on Sunday morning. Photo: Ismail Coskun / IHA via AP / NTB
The ceasefire between Armenia and Azerbaijan did not last over the weekend, with both sides accusing each other of heavy artillery attacks against the civilian population.
The ceasefire means that the warring parties have not exchanged dead soldiers, as agreed in Moscow after two weeks of hostilities in Nagorno-Karabakh.
The EU is very concerned about development and calls on the parties to ensure full respect on the ground for the agreement that Russia negotiated until Saturday night.
“We note with extreme concern reports of continued military activity, including against civilian targets, as well as civilian casualties,” the EU Foreign Minister said in a statement Sunday night.
The parties accused each other of being behind intense artillery attacks in areas where civilians live.
Rescue teams carry a victim away from the ruins of the city of Ganja in Azerbaijan on Sunday. Photo: AP / NTB
Killed in Azerbaijan
Azerbaijani authorities claim that seven people were killed and 33 wounded in Armenian artillery strikes in the city of Ganja on Sunday night. Ganja is the second largest city in Azerbaijan.
A journalist from the AFP news agency saw aid workers in red helmets searching with their bare hands for survivors in the remains of a destroyed building in Ganja.
They found an almost naked victim, who was placed in a large white bag while people, terrified, watched and cried.
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Azerbaijani authorities: nine people killed by Armenian artillery after ceasefire
– Calmer now
Authorities in the breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh region also claimed on Sunday that the other side had carried out artillery strikes in residential areas. They themselves insisted on respecting the ceasefire.
Despite reports of further attacks, the situation was calmer than before the ceasefire took effect at 12 noon local time on Saturday.
– It seems that this morning is calmer. But that could change quickly, said Arayik Harutyunyan, leader of the separatists who control Nagorno-Karabakh, on Sunday morning.
Soldiers and firefighters search for survivors in a residential area in the Azerbaijani city of Ganja on Sunday. Seven people were killed in the Armenian artillery strikes, according to the Azerbaijani government. Photo: Ismail Coskun / IHA via AP / NTB
Russian call
The ceasefire was agreed after talks in Moscow, and Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has called on the parties to respect it. On Monday, he meets his Armenian counterpart in Moscow.
The EU Foreign Minister is urging the parties to immediately start negotiations under the auspices of the so-called Minsk group. It is a process that France, Russia and the United States have led for decades with the aim of finding a lasting solution to the conflict, but without success.
Nagorno-Karabakh is internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan. But in practice, the area is an autonomous republic controlled by Armenian separatists with broad support from Armenia. A large majority of the population are ethnic Armenians.
The dispute over Nagorno-Karabakh led to war when the Soviet Union collapsed in the early 1990s. The situation has been fraught with conflict ever since, and acts of war broke out again two weeks ago.
