Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev announced in a televised message that the strategic city of Shusha, which remained in the illegal occupation of Armenia for more than two and a half decades, had been retaken by Azerbaijan's army.
About 20 percent of Azerbaijan's territory – including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent regions – has been under illegal Armenian occupation since 1991. Three ceasefires agreed since the fresh fighting began on September 27 have failed to hold.