Ceasefire broken as Azerbaijan attacks Armenian forces in Nagorno-Karabakh
Clashes broke out in the area of the Berdzor (Lachin) corridor as Armenia and Azerbaijan disagreed over the legal proceedings to change the route connecting the region to Armenia.
Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) Defense Army announced that starting from 9:00 a.m. on Wednesday the Azerbaijani units grossly violated the ceasefire, using grenade launchers and drones. As a result, 7 Armenian servicemen have been wounded. The condition of one of the injured is grave, the lives of other 6 are not at risk, Mediamax reported.
Azerbaijani Armed Forces have approached the village of Yehtsaoh and are trying to take up a position on a hill adjacent to the road, Armenian Re:Public of Artsakh news outlet said on Twitter.
On the other hand, Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Defense declared that Armenian troops targeted Azerbaijani army positions, killing an Azeri soldier.
“On the morning of August 3, members of illegal Armenian armed detachments in the territory of Azerbaijan, where the Russian peacekeeping contingent is temporarily deployed, subjected to intensive fire the Azerbaijan Army positions stationed in the direction of the Lachin region,” it said.
The Azeri side claims the responsibility of the incident falls upon Armenia, saying that it still failed to withdraw its “illegal armed units” from Azerbaijan's territory, whereas reports from the Armenian side say that Baku reportedly calls on Yerevan to begin using alternative Karabakh route.
“The Azerbaijani side, via the (Russian) peacekeeping contingent stationed in Artsakh, submitted a demand regarding organizing traffic on the new route in the near future,” Karabakh President Arayik Harutyunyan’s office said.
The secretary of the Security Council of Armenia stated that the document signed between Azerbaijan and Armenia on November 9 implies that a new road should be agreed within three years between Armenia, Russia and Azerbaijan, but there is still no definitive agreement.
“As of this moment there is no agreed plan. In any case, Armenia has not approved any plan, therefore, Azerbaijan’s demand is not legitimate,” Secretary of the Security Council of Armenia Armen Grigoryan said.
