Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Armenia, Azerbaijan Report Attacks Despite Cease-Fire Deal
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 4 years ago on
October 12, 2020

Share

YEREVAN, Armenia — Armenia and Azerbaijan on Monday accused each other of attacks over the separatist territory of Nagorno-Karabakh despite a cease-fire deal brokered by Russia in an effort to end the worst outbreak of hostilities in the region in decades.

The cease-fire came into effect on Saturday, but was immediately challenged by mutual claims of violations that persisted throughout the weekend and continued on Monday morning.

Armenian Defense Ministry spokeswoman Shushan Stepanian said Monday that Azerbaijani forces were “intensively shelling the southern front” of the conflict zone. Nagorno-Karabakh officials said Azerbaijan was directing “large number of forces” to the area of Hadrut, a town in the south of the region, where “large-scale hostilities” were ongoing.

Azerbaijan’s Defense Ministry called accusations of directing forces to Hadrut “disinformation” and insisted that Azerbaijan was observing the cease-fire. The ministry in turn accused Armenian forces of shelling the Goranboy, Terter and Agdam regions of Azerbaijan that lie around Nagorno-Karabakh.

Armenian military officials also said that Nagorno-Karabakh forces shot down an Azerbaijani Su-25 warplane, a claim that Azerbaijan denied.

The recent bout of fighting between Azerbaijani and Armenian forces started Sept. 27 and has left hundreds of people dead in the biggest escalation of the decades-old conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh since a separatist war there ended in 1994. The region lies in Azerbaijan but has been under control of ethnic Armenian forces backed by Armenia.

The scene of damage a day after shelling by Armenian’s artillery during fighting over the separatist region of Nagorno-Karabakh, in Ganja, Azerbaijan, Monday, Oct. 12, 2020. Armenia and Azerbaijan on Monday have accused each other of attacks over the separatist territory of Nagorno-Karabakh despite a cease-fire deal brokered by Russia in an effort to end the worst outbreak of hostilities in decades. (AP Photo)

If the Truce Holds, It Would Mark a Major Diplomatic Coup for Russia

The foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan signed a truce in Moscow after Russian President Vladimir Putin had brokered it in a series of calls with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian.

The cease-fire took effect at noon Saturday, after talks in Moscow that were sponsored by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. The deal stipulated that the cease-fire should pave the way for talks on settling the conflict.

If the truce holds, it would mark a major diplomatic coup for Russia, which has a security pact with Armenia but has also cultivated warm ties with Azerbaijan. But so far the agreement “is not being adhered to in full, and hostilities continue,” Lavrov said Monday at a meeting with his Armenian counterpart.

Both Armenia and Azerbaijan on Monday reiterated their commitment to the cease-fire deal and accused each other of violating it.

Residents of Stepanakert, Nagorno-Karabakh’s capital which came under intense shelling last week, told The Associated Press on Monday it didn’t feel like a truce to them.

“We do not feel the cease-fire at all. We do not get out from here to our flats,” Larisa Azeryan, who has been staying in a shelter in the basement of an apartment building, told the AP. “We all stay here, we eat here, sleep here. The whole day is spent here in the basement.”

RELATED TOPICS:

DON'T MISS

Big Spenders: These Companies Are Giving the Most to California Legislative Candidates

DON'T MISS

Stock Market Today: Wall Street Drifts Ahead of Election Day, While Oil Rises and Yields Sink

DON'T MISS

Saints Fire Head Coach Dennis Allen After Seven-Game Losing Streak

DON'T MISS

Raiders Fire Offensive Coordinator Luke Getsy and 2 Other Offensive Coaches

DON'T MISS

Storm in the Caribbean Is on a Track to Likely Hit Cuba as a Hurricane

DON'T MISS

Israel Ends Agreement With UN Agency Providing Aid in Gaza

DON'T MISS

Demarcus Robinson’s One-Handed Catch in OT Gives Rams Win Over Seahawks

DON'T MISS

Trump, Musk and an American Masculinity Crisis

DON'T MISS

What One Tossup District Says About the Trump-Harris Battle for the Suburbs

DON'T MISS

Herbert Shines, Chargers Defense Dominates in Win Over Browns

UP NEXT

US Confirms Reports That Iran Arrested an Iranian-American Citizen

UP NEXT

Israel Says It Carried out Ground Raid Into Syria, Seizing a Syrian Citizen

UP NEXT

Russia’s Swift March Forward in Ukraine’s East

UP NEXT

North Korea’s Long-Range Missile Test Signals Its Improved, Potential Capability to Attack US

UP NEXT

Death Toll From Spanish Floods Climbs to 205 as Shock Turns to Anger and Frustration

UP NEXT

Visalia Rollerblader Suffered Major Injuries After Being Struck by Vehicle

UP NEXT

Fresno County Man Indicted for Possessing Stolen Guns

UP NEXT

Nearly a Quarter of Lebanese Border Villages Destroyed in Israel’s Military Campaign

UP NEXT

Waves of Rocket Fire From Lebanon Hit Israel, Killing 7 in Deadliest Strikes Since Israeli Invasion

UP NEXT

At Least 95 People Die in Devastating Flash Floods in Spain

Raiders Fire Offensive Coordinator Luke Getsy and 2 Other Offensive Coaches

14 mins ago

Storm in the Caribbean Is on a Track to Likely Hit Cuba as a Hurricane

17 mins ago

Israel Ends Agreement With UN Agency Providing Aid in Gaza

22 mins ago

Demarcus Robinson’s One-Handed Catch in OT Gives Rams Win Over Seahawks

47 mins ago

Trump, Musk and an American Masculinity Crisis

52 mins ago

What One Tossup District Says About the Trump-Harris Battle for the Suburbs

1 hour ago

Herbert Shines, Chargers Defense Dominates in Win Over Browns

1 hour ago

US Confirms Reports That Iran Arrested an Iranian-American Citizen

1 hour ago

A Vivid Trump-Harris Contrast in Campaign’s Grueling Final Days

1 hour ago

Harris and Trump Battle to the Wire in Swing States, Times/Siena Polls Find

1 hour ago

Big Spenders: These Companies Are Giving the Most to California Legislative Candidates

Nearly $100 million has been spent this year by corporate- and labor-funded committees in California legislative races, including more than ...

6 mins ago

6 mins ago

Big Spenders: These Companies Are Giving the Most to California Legislative Candidates

6 mins ago

Stock Market Today: Wall Street Drifts Ahead of Election Day, While Oil Rises and Yields Sink

10 mins ago

Saints Fire Head Coach Dennis Allen After Seven-Game Losing Streak

Raiders
14 mins ago

Raiders Fire Offensive Coordinator Luke Getsy and 2 Other Offensive Coaches

17 mins ago

Storm in the Caribbean Is on a Track to Likely Hit Cuba as a Hurricane

22 mins ago

Israel Ends Agreement With UN Agency Providing Aid in Gaza

Rams
47 mins ago

Demarcus Robinson’s One-Handed Catch in OT Gives Rams Win Over Seahawks

52 mins ago

Trump, Musk and an American Masculinity Crisis

Search

Send this to a friend