Azerbaijani Troops Resume Fighting in Clear Violation of Ceasefire Agreement

YEREVAN — Azerbaijan has violating the U.S.-brokered ceasefire agreement following its entry into force on Monday morning.

The Armenian Defense Ministry said Azerbaijani forces shelled frontline positions of Karabakh Defense army in northeastern and southeastern Karabakh.

“In flagrant violation of the humanitarian ceasefire agreement reached in the United States, at about 08:45 am, the Azerbaijani side opened artillery fire towards combat positions in the north-east of Artsakh,” Shushan Stepanyan, Armenian defense ministry spokesperson, wrote on her Facebook page.

Earlier on Monday, the Artsakh Defense Army denied accusations by Azerbaijan that the Armenian side had violated the agreement on a complete ceasefire in Karabakh.

The Karabakh Defense Army said that Azerbaijani troops have launched an attack on its frontline positions in southeastern Karabakh. It said its forces are now trying to repel the attack.

The truce agreement was announced late on Sunday following a series of talks held by the Armenian and Azerbaijani foreign ministers in Washington with top U.S. officials and American, Russian and French diplomats co-heading the OSCE Minsk Group.

In a late-night tweet, U.S. President Donald Trump congratulated Pashinyan and Aliyev on the deal.

Russia and France already brokered similar Armenian-Azerbaijani ceasefire agreements on October 10 and October 17 respectively. They did not stop hostilities in and around Karabakh, with Azerbaijan repeatedly violating the agreements.