Capitals, (ST) – Armed clashes continued between Armenian and Azerbaijani forces in the NagornoKarabakh region , despite the signing of a ceasefire agreement amid mutual accusations of bombing residential centers.
“The Azerbaijani forces continue to bombard residential centers in Karabakh, especially the city of Shushi,” TASS News Agency quoted the press spokeswoman for the Armenian Ministry of Defense Shushan Stepanyan, adding that, “in parallel with the hostilities, Azerbaijan fired again on residential centers and the situation in the strait, Avtaranuts, is still very tense and the fortified city of Shushi has become a target for bombing.
The Azerbaijani Defense Ministry said, “Armenian forces fired light weapons at our residential centers and Azerbaijani army units on the border between the two countries.
The Azerbaijani authorities indicated in a statement that at least 20 civilians were killed and dozens were injured due to the Armenian forces’ bombing of the city of Bardah in Azerbaijan, while the Armenian Ministry of Defense rejected these accusations, describing the Azerbaijani statement as “false.”
Meanwhile, Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov expressed his country’s concern about the continued fighting in Karabakh.
“The fighting continues anyway, and this matter causes regret and concern,” Peskov said, in response to a question about the Kremlin’s assessment of what is happening in the conflict zone in Karabakh.
On Sunday, he announced that a ceasefire agreement had been reached in the Karabakh region, the third of its kind after two previous agreements. However, the two sides later exchanged accusations of violating it.
On September 27, armed clashes erupted on the line of contact between Azerbaijani and Armenian forces in the aforementioned region and adjacent areas, in the most dangerous escalation between the two parties in nearly three decades, amid exchanging accusations of who started the fighting.
Raghda Sawas