Live Updates: Azerbaijan Violates New Nagorno-Karabakh Ceasefire, Armenian MoD Spokeswoman Says

Azerbaijan’s Defense Ministry says Armenia has violated the new ceasefire in Nagorno-Karabakh, shelling Azerbaijani positions along the line of contact in the troubled region.

"Despite the announcement of a new humanitarian ceasefire at 00:00 on October 18 [20:00 GMT on Saturday], the armed forces of Armenia once again grossly violated the agreement. At night, the enemy launched mortar and artillery fire in the vicinity of Jabrayil, as well as the liberated villages on the Aras River. There are no casualties among the personnel. Our units have taken adequate response measures," Azerbaijan’s Defense Ministry said in the early hours of Sunday.

Armenia on Sunday accused Azerbaijan of violating the ceasefire over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region by firing artillery and rockets.
"The enemy fired artillery shells in the northern direction from 00:04 to 02:45, (2004 to 2245 GMT) and fired rockets in the southern direction from 02:20 to 02:45," Armenian Defence Ministry spokeswoman Shushan Stepanyan said in a Twitter post.

The new agreement on the humanitarian ceasefire in Nagorno-Karabakh implements the provisions of the Moscow statement from the foreign ministers of Russia, Armenia and Azerbaijan, the Armenian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

The new Yerevan-Baku ceasefire went into effect at midnight local time on Saturday (20:00 GMT). Spokesperson of the president of the unrecognized Republic of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh Republic), Vahram Poghosyan, said on Facebook shortly after the ceasefire came into effect that the situation along the line of contact in Nagorno-Karabakh was calm.

"We highly appreciate the efforts of the OSCE [Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe] Minsk Group co-chairs and the direct participation of the French President [Emmanuel Macron] in reaching an agreement on a ceasefire on humanitarian grounds on October 17. We believe that this agreement implements the joint statement adopted in Moscow, which expresses the need to introduce ceasefire verification parameters," the Armenian Foreign Ministry said in a Saturday statement, released by the ministry’s spokeswoman, Anna Nagdalyan, on Facebook.

The situation along the line of contact in Nagorno-Karabakh has been calm since the new humanitarian ceasefire came into effect, Armenia’s Defense Ministry said.

"The situation at the line of contact is calm, the ceasefire on humanitarian grounds has already come into force," the Armenian Defense Ministry's spokeswoman, Shushan Stepanyan, wrote on her Telegram channel.

The situation along the line of contact in Nagorno-Karabakh is calm since the humanitarian ceasefire between Armenia and Azerbaijan went into effect at midnight (20:00 GMT), presidential spokesman of the self-proclaimed Artsakh Republic, Vagram Pogosyan, said.

“The situation on the front in calm,” Pogosyan wrote on his Facebook page.

Top Russian diplomat Sergey Lavrov stressed the necessity of adhering to a strict ceasefire between Armenia and Azerbaijan in telephone conversations with his counterparts from the two republics, Jeyhun Bayramov and Zohrab Mnatsakanyan respectively, the Russian Foreign Ministry said Saturday.

"During the talks, the need to strictly adhere to the provisions of the Moscow Statement of the Foreign Ministers of Russia, Azerbaijan and Armenia of October 10 of this year, providing for a ceasefire for humanitarian purposes, was emphasized,” the ministry said in a statement.

Lavrov underlined the need to begin substantive negotiations on peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh dispute in line with the principles of the Minsk Group Co-Chairs, the statement added.

French President Emmanuel Macron welcomed the ceasefire announcement from Armenia and Azerbaijan, a communique from the Elysee Palace on Saturday said.

Minutes earlier, Yerevan and Baku released mirror statements announcing a humanitarian ceasefire effective midnight October 18. The non-recognized Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh, for its part, confirmed its readiness to abide by the ceasefire in line with the October 10 Moscow Statement.

"The President of the Republic welcomes the humanitarian ceasefire announced tonight jointly by Armenia and Azerbaijan after the French mediation held in recent days and hours in coordination with the co-chairs of the [OSCE] Minsk Group. This ceasefire must be unconditional and strictly observed by both sides,” the Elysee Palace statement read.

YEREVAN (Sputnik) - Yerevan and Baku agreed to declare a ceasefire from 00:00 local time (20:00 GMT) on October 18, the Armenian Foreign Ministry said Saturday.

"The Republic of Armenia and the Republic of Azerbaijan have agreed to a humanitarian truce starting as of 00:00 local time on 18 October", the statement posted on the Foreign Ministry's website says.

The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry confirmed the development.

The humanitarian ceasefire will allow for the exchange of captured and deceased from both sides and supply of aid to civilians caught in the crossfire.

"The European Union deplores the strikes on the Azerbaijani city of Ganja during the night of 16-17 October resulting in civilian loss of life and serious injury. All targeting of civilians and civilian installations by either party must stop. The ceasefire of 10 October must be fully respected without delay", the bloc’s foreign affairs spokesman, Peter Stano, said on Saturday.

BAKU (Sputnik) - As many as 60 Azerbaijani civilians have been killed since the beginning of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict escalation, and 270 others have sustained injuries, the country's prosecutor general office said on Saturday.

"Number of civilians killed – 60; number of injured civilians – 270; number of houses fallen into disrepair – 1,704; number of multi-apartment residential buildings fallen into disrepair – 90; number of damaged civil facilities – 327", a relevant infographic published on the official website said.

"Azerbaijan's Ministry of Defence claimed that on 17 October an Su-25 belonging to Armenia was downed - yet another case of disinformation", Armenian MoD Press Secretary Shushan Stepanyan said in a Facebook post.

"On 17 October at 11:11 am, Azerbaijani air defence forces shot down an Su-25 attack aircraft of the Armenian Armed Forces, which was trying to strike at the positions of the Azerbaijani military in the Jabrayil region", Azerbaijan's MoD said.

AKU (Sputnik) - The Azerbaijani Armed Forces have taken control of the town of Fuzuli in the breakaway republic of Nagorno-Karabakh, President Ilham Aliyev said in an address to the nation on Saturday

"The town of Fuzuli has been taken under the control of the Azerbaijani Army", Aliyev said.

The armed forces have also "liberated" a number of villages in the Fuzuli district, he added.

"This is a war crime, a crime against humanity. If the international community does not want to punish them, we will punish the perpetrators. We will punish [them] on the battlefield and give a response", Aliyev said in his address to the nation on Saturday.