3 yıl önce

Azerbaijan says Armenia violates Karabakh truce, kills soldiers

Azerbaijan's defence ministry says four of its servicemen are killed and two others wounded during the clashes that take place in an area that was liberated on November 10 from the Armenian occupation.

Reuters

A view shows a burnt tank of ethnic Armenian forces in the area, which came under the control of Azerbaijan's troops following a military conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh and a further signing of a ceasefire deal, in Jabrayil District, December 7, 2020.

Four Azerbaijani servicemen have been killed in recent weeks in clashes in the Nagorno-Karabakh region, Azerbaijan's defence ministry has said on Sunday.

This is the first report of casualties since a Russian-brokered ceasefire accord.

Separately, authorities in Armenia said six of their servicemen had been wounded in what they described as an Azerbaijani military offensive but did not say when.

The Baku government said the clashes, which also left two of its servicemen wounded, had taken place in an area that was liberated on November 10 from the Armenian occupation.

Russian peacekeepers deployed in the conflict area have reported no major clashes but said at the weekend there had been one incident of a ceasefire violation.

'Minsk group failed to help solve conflict'

Azerbaijan's president has said the Minsk group of Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) has not yet played any role in resolving the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Ilham Aliyev’s remarks came on Saturday amid an OSCE Minsk group meeting held in the capital Baku with the participation of the group's co-chairs France's Stephane Visconti and Andrew Schofer from the US, along with Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office Andrzej Kasprzyk.

Aliyev said the status-quo in the region has changed and the Azerbaijani leadership resolved the decades-long conflict through force and diplomatic means.

Although the Minsk group of the OSCE produced ideas in an effort to resolve the dispute, these did not bear any fruit, according to the president.

Azerbaijan solved this problem on its own, Aliyev also said, adding that his country managed to beat Armenia on the battlefield.

The president further noted that Baku does not have any problem with the Armenian population living in the region, stressing that their living standards will rise under the Azerbaijani rule.

Karabakh conflict

Relations between the former Soviet republics have been tense since 1991 when the Armenian military occupied Nagorno-Karabakh, a territory recognised as part of Azerbaijan, and seven adjacent regions.

When new clashes erupted on September 27, the Armenian army launched attacks on civilians and Azerbaijani forces and violated several humanitarian ceasefire agreements.

During the 44-day conflict, Azerbaijan liberated several cities and nearly 300 settlements and villages from the Armenian occupation.

The two countries signed a Russian-brokered agreement on November 10 to end fighting and work toward a comprehensive resolution.

The truce is seen as a victory for Azerbaijan and a defeat for Armenia, whose armed forces have been withdrawing in line with the agreement.