Armenia and Azerbaijan have accused each other of violating a peace agreement that ended six weeks of fighting in the disputed territory.
Fighting continued in the broken Nagorno-Karabakh region between Azerbaijan and Armenia on Sunday, violating the November ceasefire that ended the bloody conflict.
Azerbaijan’s Defense Ministry said four of its soldiers were killed when their units were attacked in the Nagorno-Karabakh region, while Armenian officials said six of their troops were wounded.
Armenia and Azerbaijan on Saturday accused each other of violating a deal that ended six weeks of fierce fighting in the disputed area, with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev threatening to crush Armenian forces with an “iron fist”. Given.
“Armenia should not try to restart it,” Aliyev said during a meeting with top diplomats from the United States and France, who have been trying to mediate in the decades-long conflict.
“It should be very careful and not plan any military action. This time, we will destroy them completely. This should not be a secret for anyone. ”
Earlier on Saturday, Nagorno-Karabakh forces said three of their fighters had been wounded in an attack by Azerbaijani forces.
The Armenian army also reported attacks on two villages from Azerbaijan under Nagorno-Karabakh forces.
Yerevan said Armenian forces tried to infiltrate homes in special areas under the rebel province’s government, including the villages of Hin Taghar and Khattasbird.
The Armenian Foreign Ministry said in a statement that “provocations in Azerbaijan continued today in the direction of the villages of Matsen and Hin Shen in the Heidart region.”
In another statement, the Armenian Defense Ministry said: “Negotiations between the Armenian, Russian and Azerbaijani forces are underway to resolve the situation in Hadrut and ensure the parties return to their former positions.”
A spokesman for Russia’s peacekeeping force confirmed the “firefight with automatic weapons” and told the RIA Novosti news agency that requests for a ceasefire had been sent to both sides.
A statement from Russia’s Defense Ministry said, “On December 11, a case of ceasefire violation was reported in Hudart district.
Russia has peacekeepers in the region, most of whom were recaptured by Azerbaijan last month and held by Armenian forces for more than a quarter of a century.
This was the first report of a Russian violation since the November 10 peace deal.
Nagorno-Karabakh is internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan but has a population and was completely controlled by ethnic Armenians after a bloody war in the 1990s, in which they occupied territories belonging to Azerbaijan. Was taken into his possession.
In the 44 days of fighting that began in late September and killed more than 5,600 people on both sides, Azerbaijani forces pushed deep into Nagorno-Karabakh, forcing Armenia to accept last month’s peace deal that Azerbaijan regained significant territory.
Russia has deployed about 2,000 peacekeepers for at least five years to monitor the peace deal and facilitate the return of refugees.
Azerbaijan won its victory on Thursday with a military parade attended by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, which included more than 3,000 troops, dozens of military vehicles and a flyover of fighter jets.
