DM Monitoring
BAKU: The Armenian military violated a new temporary humanitarian cease-fire with Azerbaijan just after it went into effect Monday. “On Oct. 26 at 08:05, the Armenian armed forces violated the new humanitarian cease-fire and shelled units of the Azerbaijani army located in the Safiyan village of Lachin from the direction of Lachin city,” Azerbaijan’s Defense Ministry said on Twitter. The ministry added that Azerbaijani army units were fully complying with the cease-fire.
“Since 08:04, armed forces of Armenia started shelling Tartar region and its villages in violation of the humanitarian cease-fire,” Hikmet Hajiyev, assistant to the Azerbaijani president, said on Twitter. Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry said Armenian forces had shelled the town of Tartar and nearby villages in “gross violation” of the truce, which was announced by Washington on Sunday and was due to start at 8 a.m. local time. The U.S.-brokered agreement was announced Sunday and had just come into effect as of 8 a.m. Monday morning.
The State Department announced that the two sides have reaffirmed commitment to upholding the humanitarian cease-fire. The first cease-fire reached on Oct. 10 was violated by the Armenian army within 24 hours as it claimed several civilian lives when it carried out missile attacks on Azerbaijan’s second-largest city Ganja. The second one on Oct. 17 was again violated by Armenia.
Relations between the two former Soviet republics have been tense since 1991 when the Armenian military occupied Upper Karabakh, also known as Nagorno-Karabakh. Four U.N. Security Council resolutions and two from the U.N. General Assembly, as well as international organizations, demand the “immediate complete and unconditional withdrawal of the occupying forces” from occupied Azerbaijani territory.
In total, about 20% of Azerbaijan’s territory – including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent regions – has been under illegal Armenian occupation for nearly three decades. Since recent clashes erupted on Sept. 27, Armenia has repeatedly attacked Azerbaijani civilians and forces.
Meanwhile, Ahumanitarian cease-fire will take effect Monday morning between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the occupied territory of Nagorno-Karabakh, a joint statement from the U.S. State Department and the two governments said on Sunday. The cease-fire, which was agreed to in Moscow earlier in October, will take effect on Monday at 8 a.m. (0400 GMT), according to the joint statement by the United States, Armenia and Azerbaijan. Deputy Secretary of State Stephen Biegun met Saturday with the foreign ministers of the two countries, the department said.
The U.S. facilitated negotiations with the Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov and Armenian Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan and the Minsk Group co-chairs to move the two nations closer to a peaceful resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a tweet.
In a separate statement, the OSCE Minsk Group, formed to mediate the conflict and led by France, Russia and the United States, said its co-chairs and foreign ministers would meet again on Oct. 29 to discuss the Nagorno-Karabakh issue.
The cease-fire statement came shortly after Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev announced that the Azerbaijani army liberated the town center of Qubadli from Armenian occupation.
Ilham Aliyev said on Twitter that the Azerbaijani army liberated the city center, as well as some villages in Qubadli, Zengilan and Jabrayil.
“Long live Azerbaijan’s Army! Karabakh is Azerbaijan!” he said, referring to efforts to liberate Nagorno-Karabakh, from nearly 30 years of Armenian occupation.
Azerbaijani authorities said at least 60 civilians have been killed and 270 wounded since Sept. 27, but they haven’t revealed military losses.
The number of houses damaged in Armenian attacks has reached over 1,700, along with 90 residential buildings and 327 civil facilities, according to Azerbaijani officials.
Relations between the two former Soviet republics have been tense since 1991 when the Armenian military occupied Nagorno-Karabakh, an internationally recognized territory of Azerbaijan.
Turkey has supported Baku’s right to self-defense and demanded a withdrawal of the occupying forces.
