EREVAN, Armenia – The death and injured number increased on Tuesday when fighting between Armenian and Azerbaijani forces lasted for a third week in the separatist territory of Nagorno-Karabakh, and the United States suggested that both sides adhere to a ceasefire negotiated by Russia on weekends.
Nagorno-Karabakh army officials said 16 had died, bringing the total death toll to 532 since September 27, when the last outbreak of fighting broke out in the decades-long conflict.
Azerbaijan has not disclosed the losses of its army, and the total number of casualties is likely to be much higher, as either party claims to have inflicted significant casualties on the army.
The Azerbaijani government said 42 civilians had been killed since the fighting began. Nagorno-Karabakh ombudsman Artak Beglaryan said Monday night that at least 31 civilians had been killed in the separatist region in the past two weeks. Injured.
The fatal clashes marked the biggest escalation of the clash over Nagorno-Karabakh, which is in Azerbaijan and has been under the control of Armenian-backed forces since the end of a separatist war in 1994.
After more than 10 hours of Marathon negotiations in Moscow, the foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan signed a ceasefire agreement that entered into force on Saturday. Russia has a security pact with Armenia, but it has also maintained ties with Azerbaijan, allowing it to play the role of mediator.
But without delay after the agreement came into effect, Armenia and Azerbaijan accused others of raping him with non-stop attacks.
On Tuesday, Azerbaijani officials said Armenian forces had bombed some of their areas, and Nagorno-Karabakh officials said Azerbaijan had introduced “large-scale military operations” along the front line. Each party denies the other party’s assertions.
Ali Rastgou, deputy governor of Iran’s East Azerbaijani province, said a missile hit agricultural land 70 kilometers northeast of Tabriz, Iran’s third-largest city, the official IRNA news agency reported. He said there were no casualties.
IRNA said that since the start of the clashes, more than 50 rockets hit the border areas of east Azerbaijan.
Clashes have wreaked havoc on the people of Nagorno-Karabakh. In Stepanakert, the capital of the separatist territory that suffered heavy bombardment last week, others hudded in the basements of buildings or other shelters, fearing additional attacks.
Several believers in the town of Shusha prayed on Tuesday at the Cathedral of the Holy Savior, whose dome passed through a shell last week.
“We never shoot at their temples or ambulances, while they shoot at our own. How can we be with them without a ceasefire?”said Artak, a resident who gave his last name.
U. S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo tweeted that either country will have to “respect their commitments” for a ceasefire and avoid attacking civilian areas.
Something similar came here from the so-called Minsk Group, which works under the auspices of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe and is co-chaired through Russia, France and the US. To force a humanitarian ceasefire without delay “to allow the return of the remains, prisoners of war and detainees” and to settle for the terms of a ceasefire verification process.
Turkey, which has played a very visual role in existing hostilities in supporting its best friend Azerbaijan, has criticized other nations for not being easy to withdraw Armenian forces from Nagorno-Karabakh.
“We have said many times that the solution to this challenge is for Armenia to withdraw from Azerbaijani territory,” said Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu after talking to his Swedish counterpart, Ann Linde, who called for a quick ceasefire.
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Associated Press editors Daria Litvinova in Moscow, Aida Sultanova in Baku, Azerbaijan, Suzan Fraser in Ankara, Turkey, Geir Moulson in Berlin and Amir Vahdat in Tehran contributed.