[ad_1]
Armenia and Azerbaijan accuse each other of violating the peace agreement that ended six weeks of fighting over the disputed territory.
Fighting continued on Sunday between Azerbaijan and Armenia in the breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh region, violating the November ceasefire that ended the bloody conflict.
The Azerbaijani Defense Ministry said that four of its soldiers were killed when its units were attacked in areas adjacent to the Nagorno-Karabakh region, while the Armenian authorities said that six of its soldiers had been wounded.
Armenia and Azerbaijan on Saturday accused each other of violating the agreement, which ended six weeks of fierce fighting over the disputed territory, with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev threatening to crush Armenian forces with an “iron hand.” .
“Armenia should not try to start over,” Aliyev said during a meeting with top diplomats from the United States and France, who have tried to mediate the decades-long conflict.
“You have to be very cautious and don’t plan any military action. This time, we will destroy them completely. It shouldn’t be a secret from anyone. “
Earlier on Saturday, Nagorno-Karabakh forces said three of their fighters had been wounded in an attack by Azerbaijani forces.
The Armenian army also reported attacks from Azerbaijan against two villages that are under the control of Nagorno-Karabakh forces.
Yerevan said that Armenian forces repelled attempts to break into territories that were supposed to remain under the control of the rebel province government, namely Hin Tagher and Khtsaberd villages.
“Azerbaijani provocations continued today towards the villages of Mets Shen and Hin Shen in the Hadrut region,” the Armenian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
In another statement, the Armenian Defense Ministry said: “Negotiations are underway between the Armenian, Russian and Azerbaijani military to resolve the situation in Hadrut and ensure the return of the parties to their previous positions.”
A spokesman for the Russian peacekeeping forces confirmed “exchanges of fire with automatic weapons”, and told the Ria Novosti press agency that requests to respect the ceasefire had been sent to both sides.
“A case of violation of the ceasefire was reported on December 11 in the Hadrut district,” said a statement from the Russian defense ministry, without assigning any blame.
Russia has peacekeepers in the region, much of which was claimed by Azerbaijan last month after being held by Armenian forces for more than a quarter of a century.
It was Russia’s first report of a violation since the peace agreement was reached on November 10.
Nagorno-Karabakh is internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, but it is populated and, until recently, fully controlled by ethnic Armenians after a bloody war in the 1990s that saw them take over peripheral regions belonging to Azerbaijan.
In 44 days of fighting that began in late September and left more than 5,600 dead on both sides, the Azerbaijani army pushed into Nagorno-Karabakh, forcing Armenia to accept last month’s peace agreement that saw Azerbaijan regain significant territory.
Russia deployed nearly 2,000 peacekeepers for at least five years to oversee the peace agreement and facilitate the return of refugees.
Azerbaijan marked its victory with a military parade on Thursday attended by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and involved more than 3,000 soldiers, dozens of military vehicles and a flyover of fighter jets.
[ad_2]
