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The ceasefire will come into force at midnight on Sunday, the respective foreign ministers of the countries announced in a joint statement.
The attack on the second largest city in Azerbaijan occurred on Saturday night and was followed by an attack on the strategic military city of Mingecevir. Both cities are located north of Nagorno-Karabakh and, according to Azerbaijan, it was a matter of robot attacks.
More than ten people were killed in the attack on Gjandja, according to the Azeri side, while dozens more were injured. An aide to the President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, said on Twitter overnight that at least 20 houses had been destroyed.
– We slept and the children watched television. All the surrounding houses have been destroyed, there are many people under the landslides, some dead, some damaged, says Rubaba Zhafarova, whose house was destroyed.
Stepanakert fired
The breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh region was also attacked late Friday night despite the fragile ceasefire between the parties. Both the capital Stepanakert and a nearby city were bombarded with grenades by Azeri forces, according to the regional government.
The envoy of the AFP news agency reports that, among other things, the roof of a shopping center was hit during the bombing.
– What happened here is absurd, says the Armenian woman Gayane Gharibyan who lives in the city.
Russian news agency Interfax reports that fighting took place along the borders of the separatist area on Saturday.
Macron welcomes
A fragile ceasefire was recently reached between the parties to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Russia, along with the United States and France in the so-called Minsk Group, has assumed a mediating role in the conflict, but Moscow also has a defense pact with Armenia.
Azerbaijan, for its part, has the support of Turkey.
French President Emmanuel Macron, in a statement released by the Office of the President on Saturday, welcomed Armenia and Azerbaijan’s announcement of a ceasefire. He stressed that the ceasefire must be unconditional and called on both sides to strictly respect the agreement.
Before the night’s attacks, at least some 600 people, including more than 70 civilians, had died since fighting broke out just over two weeks ago. The figures are not complete.
It is often difficult to obtain independent confirmations of information from both parties about deaths and injuries, as well as who initiated or responded to an attack.
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