UPDATES WITH NEW STATEMENT FROM AZERBAIJANI DEFENSE MINISTRY
By Ruslan Rehimov
BAKU, Azerbaijan (AA) – Armenia is “grossly” violating the cease-fire agreement by trying to mount attacks, Azerbaijan’s Defense Ministry said on Saturday, hours after the humanitarian truce came into effect.
“Despite the agreement to declare a ceasefire at 12 pm [local time], the Armenian army attempted to attack in the Aghdere-Terter and Fizuli-Jabrayil directions,” the ministry said in a statement.
“At the same time, a number of our human settlements are under artillery fire from the armed forces of Armenia.”
It said the Azerbaijani military had “successfully suppressed” all attempted attacks.
“Adequate retaliatory measures are being taken against the Armenian army,” the Defense Ministry asserted.
The ministry shared video footage on its website showing Armenian armored vehicles being destroyed by Azerbaijani forces.
A separate statement said the Armenian army was also shelling Azerbaijan’s Agdam and Tartar regions.
A humanitarian cease-fire agreed for the exchange of prisoners and retrieval of bodies in Nagorno-Karabakh came into force at 12 p.m. local time (0800GMT) on Saturday.
The truce came after a trilateral meeting in Moscow on Friday between the foreign ministers of Russia, Azerbaijan, and Armenia.
