New Ceasefire Unravels as Karabakh Clashes Rage
BAKU/YEREVAN (Dispatches) -- A new ceasefire in the mountain enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh was in jeopardy on Monday with Azerbaijan and ethnic Armenian separatists reporting shelling and heavy fighting in some areas.
Azerbaijan said it had "neutralized” a missile fired by Armenian forces at an oil pipeline in Azerbaijan on Sunday, several hours after the ceasefire went into force.
The ceasefire was agreed on Saturday after an earlier deal brokered by Russia failed to halt fighting that began Sept. 27 - the deadliest clashes in the South Caucasus since the 1990s.
Officials in Nagorno-Karabakh, a breakaway enclave of Azerbaijan that is controlled by Armenian separatists, said Azeri forces were shelling their positions in northern and southern areas of the line of contact that divides them.
They claimed Azeri forces had shelled civilian settlements including the town of Martuni and four villages - charges that were denied by Azerbaijan.
However Nagorno-Karabakh’s main city of Khankendi which Armenians call Stepanakert was quiet overnight, an AFP correspondent said.
The Azeri defense ministry said Armenian forces were shelling the Agjebedin, Tovuz and Dashkesan regions far from the conflict zone.
The Azeri prosecutor general’s office said Armenia had targeted a pipeline in the Khizi district of Azerbaijan, more than 300 km (186 miles) from the conflict zone, on Sunday afternoon.
The pipeline, which carries oil to Novorossiisk in Russia, was not damaged but some missile fragments fell about 250 meters (820 feet) away, it said.
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev accused Armenian forces of "blatantly” violating the ceasefire, including firing on residential areas, and said there were dead and wounded.
Writing on Twitter, he said Azerbaijani forces had liberated 13 more villages occupied by Armenian forces for about 30 years.
The ceasefire brokered in Moscow earlier this month was aimed at letting the sides swap detainees and bodies of those killed, but it had little impact on the fighting.
The new ceasefire was announced on Saturday after Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov talked to the Armenian and Azeri foreign ministers by telephone.
In a fresh appeal for peace on Monday, Lavrov said it was vital to stop the angry rhetoric around the conflict and added: "This does not require any great effort.”
Russia, France and the United States chair a body called the Minsk Group, which has tasked with helping resolve the conflict under the umbrella of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).
Azerbaijan said it had "neutralized” a missile fired by Armenian forces at an oil pipeline in Azerbaijan on Sunday, several hours after the ceasefire went into force.
The ceasefire was agreed on Saturday after an earlier deal brokered by Russia failed to halt fighting that began Sept. 27 - the deadliest clashes in the South Caucasus since the 1990s.
Officials in Nagorno-Karabakh, a breakaway enclave of Azerbaijan that is controlled by Armenian separatists, said Azeri forces were shelling their positions in northern and southern areas of the line of contact that divides them.
They claimed Azeri forces had shelled civilian settlements including the town of Martuni and four villages - charges that were denied by Azerbaijan.
However Nagorno-Karabakh’s main city of Khankendi which Armenians call Stepanakert was quiet overnight, an AFP correspondent said.
The Azeri defense ministry said Armenian forces were shelling the Agjebedin, Tovuz and Dashkesan regions far from the conflict zone.
The Azeri prosecutor general’s office said Armenia had targeted a pipeline in the Khizi district of Azerbaijan, more than 300 km (186 miles) from the conflict zone, on Sunday afternoon.
The pipeline, which carries oil to Novorossiisk in Russia, was not damaged but some missile fragments fell about 250 meters (820 feet) away, it said.
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev accused Armenian forces of "blatantly” violating the ceasefire, including firing on residential areas, and said there were dead and wounded.
Writing on Twitter, he said Azerbaijani forces had liberated 13 more villages occupied by Armenian forces for about 30 years.
The ceasefire brokered in Moscow earlier this month was aimed at letting the sides swap detainees and bodies of those killed, but it had little impact on the fighting.
The new ceasefire was announced on Saturday after Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov talked to the Armenian and Azeri foreign ministers by telephone.
In a fresh appeal for peace on Monday, Lavrov said it was vital to stop the angry rhetoric around the conflict and added: "This does not require any great effort.”
Russia, France and the United States chair a body called the Minsk Group, which has tasked with helping resolve the conflict under the umbrella of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).
For decades, the group has failed to stop the sporadic outbreaks of fighting and implement United Nations resolutions that demand the "withdrawal of armed forces from the occupied territories.”
Turkey says their mediation has failed, and Azerbaijan wants a role for Ankara in peacemaking. Baku also seeks withdrawal of Armenian military forces from Nagorno-Karabakh according to the UN resolutions, but Yerevan rules it out.
Baku said on Saturday that 61 Azeri civilians had been killed and 282 wounded since the fighting flared on Sept. 27. It has not disclosed its military casualties.
The separatists in Nagorno-Karabakh say 710 of their fighters have been killed, and 36 civilians.
The new truce came amid Azerbaijan’s advances on the battlefield and an escalation in attacks on cities, including an Armenian missile attack which killed at least 13 people in the second Azeri city of Ganja early Saturday.
Turkey says their mediation has failed, and Azerbaijan wants a role for Ankara in peacemaking. Baku also seeks withdrawal of Armenian military forces from Nagorno-Karabakh according to the UN resolutions, but Yerevan rules it out.
Baku said on Saturday that 61 Azeri civilians had been killed and 282 wounded since the fighting flared on Sept. 27. It has not disclosed its military casualties.
The separatists in Nagorno-Karabakh say 710 of their fighters have been killed, and 36 civilians.
The new truce came amid Azerbaijan’s advances on the battlefield and an escalation in attacks on cities, including an Armenian missile attack which killed at least 13 people in the second Azeri city of Ganja early Saturday.