Azerbaijan and Armenia trade accusations
Both sides accuse the other of breaking the cease-fire
Jerusalem24 – A temporary ceasefire between Azerbaijan and Armenia that came into effect Saturday after almost two weeks of fighting over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region appears fragile, with both countries accusing each other of violating the terms of the agreement amid reports of casualties.
Azerbaijani authorities said Sunday four women were among at least nine people killed when a residential building compound was hit during an Armenian bombardment of Ganja, Azerbaijan’s second largest city.
The attack most likely came from the ethnic Armenian enclave in Nagorno-Karabakh, according to Hikmet Hajiyev, an adviser to Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev.
Armenia described allegations that its forces had attacked Ganja and caused civilian casualties as “absolute lies” and asserted that two people were killed by an “Azerbaijani subversive group” in the village of Hadrut. Azerbaijan denied that.
The accusations come after the ceasefire, which was announced after talks in Moscow that were brokered by Russia, came into effect at midday on Saturday.
The Russian Foreign Ministry said in a readout that the ceasefire was called “for humanitarian purposes,” allowing for the exchange of prisoners and the bodies of the deceased. It added that the parameters of the agreement would be agreed on separately.
