BAKU/YEREVAN (Reuters) – Azerbaijan and Armenia accused each other of shelling military positions and villages on Thursday, breaking a day of ceasefire in border clashes between the two former Soviet republics.
Eleven Azeri soldiers and a civilian, and four Armenian servicemen, have died since Sunday in renewed conflict between countries who fought a 1990s war in the mountainous Nagorno-Karabakh region.
International concern is heightened because of the threat to stability in a region serving as a corridor for pipelines taking oil and gas from the Caspian Sea to global markets.
Both countries’ defence ministries accused the other of firing mortars from before dawn and encroaching on territory, though there were no casualties reported.
It was “the first serious violation of the fragile ceasefire established yesterday,” the Armenian ministry said.
The neighbours have long been in conflict over Azerbaijan’s breakaway, mainly ethnic Armenian region of Nagorno-Karabakh. But the latest flareups are around the Tavush region in northeast Armenia, some 300 km (190 miles) from the enclave.
Ethnic Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh declared independence during a conflict that broke out as the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991. Though a ceasefire was agreed in 1994, Azerbaijan and Armenia frequently accuse each other of attacks around Nagorno-Karabakh and along the separate Azeri-Armenian frontier.
Reporting by Nvard Hovhannisyan in Yerevan and Nailia Bagirova in Baku; Writing by Margarita Antidze; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne
- Russia appeals to Armenia and Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh ceasefire
- Clashes between Armenia and Azerbaijan threaten South Caucasus stability
- Live Updates: Azeri MoD Says Armenian Forces Shelled Ganja City
- Sandbags and monks in khaki: Russian troops guard Armenian monastery after ceasefire
- Fiercest clashes since 1990s rage in Azerbaijan's ethnic Armenian enclave
- Armenia-Azerbaijan clashes kill at least 16, undermine regional stability
- Russia deploys troops to Nagorno-Karabakh after ceasefire deal announced
- Armenian foreign minister resigns after unpopular Karabakh ceasefire
- Turkey rejects 'superficial' Caucasus ceasefire calls
- Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict: Death toll rises in Nagorno-Karabakh
- Armenia calls for probe into 'foreign mercenaries' in Karabakh
- Erdogan tells Putin that Armenia must negotiate over Nagorno-Karabakh
- Armenia in political crisis over PM's comments on Russian missiles
- Armenia crisis grows as president blocks bid to fire army chief
- Armenia Not Ruling Out Joint Arms Production With Russia
- Azerbaijan Releases Footage of ‘Armenian Artillery, Tanks Which Violated Ceasefire' Being Destroyed
- Death toll rises as Azeris, Armenians say civilian areas are under fire
- Armenian leader sees no quick diplomatic solution in Nagorno-Karabakh
- America Must Contain Azeri-Turkish Aggression | Opinion
- Christian Heritage At Risk as U.N. Watches in Silence | Opinion
Shelling between Azerbaijan and Armenia smashes brief ceasefire have 452 words, post on www.reuters.com at July 16, 2020. This is cached page on Movie News. If you want remove this page, please contact us.