STEPANAKERT: Armenia and Azerbaijan traded accusations of new attacks on Saturday in breach of a ceasefire deal to halt nearly two weeks of fierce fighting over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region.

The agreement, which was reached in the early hours of Saturday and took effect at noon, however did seem to be having some impact, with the regional capital Stepanakert calmer after days of shelling.

A journalist in Stepanakert said some explosions were heard in the distance after the ceasefire came into force, but there was none of the bombings that hit the city in recent days.

Armenia and Azerbaijan agreed to the ceasefire after 11 hours of talks in Moscow but it took only minutes after the deadline for their forces to claim new attacks.

An ethnic Armenian enclave of Azerbaijan, Karabakh broke from the country’s control in a war in the 1990s that killed some 30,000 people. Its separatist government is strongly backed by Armenia, which like Azerbaijan gained independence with the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union, and Baku accuses Yerevan of occupying the region.

Armenian defence ministry spokeswoman Shushan Stepanyan said that “in disregard of the previously declared humanitarian ceasefire” Azerbaijani forces launched an attack on the frontline at 12:05 pm.

Azerbaijan’s defence ministry said Armenian forces had also carried out attacks on the frontline and shelled populated areas.

“Armenia is blatantly violating the ceasefire regime,” the ministry said in a statement.

In Stepanakert, sirens that had sounded for days to warn of attacks had stopped and some residents were emerging from shelters to get supplies. But few had much hope of the ceasefire taking hold for long.

“I lived for nearly 20 years in Azerbaijan, these people hate us,” Vladimir Barseghyan, 64, said in a workshop making uniforms for fighters at the front. “We don’t believe in a ceasefire, they just want to gain some time.” In Barda, an Azerbaijani town about 40 kilometres from the conflict zone, many residents spoke against the ceasefire and in favour of Baku pressing on with its campaign to restore its control of Karabakh.

“We don’t want a ceasefire. They should leave our lands,” said Zemfira Mammadova, a 71-year-old retiree.

“They should get out and let our people live a normal life. We have nothing to do with them and they should stay away from us.”

The ceasefire deal was announced after talks between the two countries’ top diplomats mediated by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

He said the truce had been agreed “on humanitarian grounds” and would allow for exchanges of prisoners and bodies.

A senior Azerbaijani official said the truce was only meant to be “temporary”.

“It’s a humanitarian ceasefire to exchange bodies and prisoners. It’s not a (proper) ceasefire,” the official said, adding that Baku had “no intention to backtrack” on its effort to retake control of Karabakh.

Published in Dawn, October 11th, 2020