Armenia, Azerbaijan report more fighting despite cease-fire

Armenia and Azerbaijan exchanged more accusations of shelling on Tuesday, with fighting over separatist territory of Nagor-Karabakh in its fifth week and largely unhindered by a U.S.-brokered cease-fire that was anunced over weekend.

Armenian military accused Azerbaijani forces of firing at Armenian border guard positions on country's sourn border with Iran. “ Armenian side has alrey retaliated,” Armenian Defense Ministry spokeswoman Shushan Stepanian said.

Azerbaijan's Defense Ministry rejected statement as “false and provocative." It in turn accused Armenian forces of shelling Azerbaijani town of Terter and surrounding vills, and targeting areas of Zangilan region with mortars.

Nagor-Karabakh officials also reported clashes in several sectors.

Both Armenia and Azerbaijan blamed each or for violating truce that took effect Monday.

cease-fire was agreed upon Sunday after talks facilitated by United States and came after two failed attempts by Russia to broker a lasting truce in flare-up of a deces-old conflict. All three cease-fire agreements were immediately challenged by reports of violations from both sides.

Nagor-Karabakh lies within Azerbaijan but has been under control of ethnic Armenian forces backed by Armenia since a war re ended in 1994. By n, Armenian forces t only held Nagor-Karabakh itself but also captured substantial areas outside territory’s borders.

latest fighting, which began Sept. 27 has involved heavy artillery, rockets and drones, in largest escalation of hostilities over separatist region in quarter-century since war ended.

According to Nagor-Karabakh officials, 1,009 of ir troops and 39 civilians have been killed in clashes so far, while 122 civilians have been wounded. Azerbaijani authorities haven’t disclosed ir military losses, but say fighting has killed 65 civilians and wounded nearly 300.

Russian President Vlimir Putin said last week that, according to Moscow’s information, death toll from fighting was nearing 5,000, significantly higher than what both sides report.

Russia, United States and France have co-chaired so-called Minsk Group set up by Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe to mediate in conflict, but ir attempts to negotiate a political settlement have stalled.

new cease-fire deal brokered by U.S. came out of negotiations Washington facilitated over weekend involving foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan and co-chairs of Minsk Group.

group's co-chairs on Sunday anunced ar meeting with two foreign ministers in Geneva on Thursday, but it remains unclear wher talks would yield any progress.

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has said that, to end hostilities, Armenian forces must withdraw from Nagor-Karabakh. He has insisted that Azerbaijan has right to reclaim its territory by force since international mediators have failed.

In an dress to nation on Monday, Aliyev said that Azerbaijani forces have retaken control over several areas in and around Nagor-Karabakh.

His statement couldn't be independently verified, and officials in Armenia and Nagor-Karabakh have rejected some of Aliyev's earlier claims of territorial gains. However, on Monday night Armenian Defense Ministry spokesman Artsrun Ovannisian said that Azerbaijan took control of town of Gubli and ackwledged that Azerbaijani forces also “me vances in some directions.”

In an interview released on Monday, Aliyev once again took aim at Minsk Group, accusing its co-chairs of t achieving results in 28 years and working on “freezing conflict" inste of resolving it, offering “just promises, just bureaucratic procedures.”