Armenia claims ceasefire broken as Azerbaijani soldiers resume firing, latter responds

Azerbaijan on Thursday, September 21, was accused of violation of the ceasefire agreement just a day after heavy infighting broke out in Nagorno-Karabakh. Armenian officials in the disputed South Caucasus region told the local media that Azerbaijani soldiers resorted to firing at Nagorno-Karabakh’s capital Stepanakert just 24 hours after implementing the cessation of hostilities. 

The Interior Ministry of the unrecognised Republic of Artsakh that governs the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh repeatedly asked the Armenians living in the Capital Stepanakert to stay in their homes as violence broke out in the contentious region. Baku officials were reported labelling the reports of firing by Azerbaijani soldiers as “completely false," adding that the negotiations were underway in the Azerbaijani city of Yevlax that would recognise Baku's victory in the region.

No formal agreement was reached by ethnic Armenians

At the negotiations, no formal agreement was reached by the ethnic Armenians from Nagorno-Karabakh and Azerbaijan, according to Russia’s state-affiliated RIA news agency. As Azerbaijani troops launched what they described as the "anti-terror" operation in Nagorno-Karabakh, a Russian-brokered proposal in the autonomous region halted the firing by the Azerbaijani soldiers on the positions of Artsakh defence forces.

The Azerbaijan military was accused of unleashing a barrage of artillery and drones against outnumbered and undersupplied pro-Armenian forces in Nagorno-Karabakh. The disputed strip of land in the southern Caucasus Mountains has been recognised internationally as part of Azerbaijan and witnessed incessant violence between soldiers on both sides since the fighting broke out in the early 1990s.

As Russian-mediated talks ceased hostilities, Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev declared the unilateral victory in a televised address on September 20. Addressing the Azerbaijani citizens, Aliyev said that "in just one day, Azerbaijan fulfilled all the tasks set as part of local anti-terrorist measures” and “restored its sovereignty.” Meanwhile, the self-styled "Republic of Artsakh" said in a statement that the "authorities of the Republic of Artsakh accept the proposal of the command of the Russian peacekeeping contingent to cease fire." Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan in a state televised address said that the fighting had stopped following the ceasefire, adding that the Russian peacekeepers in Nagorno-Karabakh were "fully responsible for the security" in the region. 

According to the Nagorno-Karabakh human rights ombudsman Gegham Stepanyan, as many as 200 including the 10 civilians died in the skirmishes. More than 400 were badly injured in the fighting. There were women and children among the dead and injured, Stepanyan said in its estimates.