Azerbaijan attacks Armenian forces ahead of ceasefire

The Azerbaijani Defence Ministry released footage on Saturday showing airstrikes against alleged Armenian troops in Nagorno-Karabakh just hours before the start of the ceasefire. Azerbaijan Defence Ministry claimed that intense fighting continued from Friday night into Saturday morning along the entire frontline.

Armenian Defence Ministry spokesperson Shushan Stepanyan wrote on her Facebook page that Azerbaijan forces are "trying in every possible way to ensure an advantage over the beginning of a humanitarian truce." Armenia and Azerbaijan agreed to a ceasefire in Nagorno-Karabakh starting at noon on Saturday, following two weeks of heavy fighting that marked the worst outbreak of hostilities in the separatist region in a quarter-century.

The countries' foreign ministers said in a statement that the truce was intended to exchange prisoners and recover the dead, adding that specific details would be agreed on later. The announcement followed 10 hours of talks in Moscow sponsored by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, who read the statement. It stipulated that the ceasefire should pave the way for talks on settling the conflict.

If the truce holds, it would mark a major diplomatic coup for Russia that has a security pact with Armenia but has also cultivated warm ties with Azerbaijan. The latest outburst of fighting between Azerbaijani and Armenian forces began on September 27 and left hundreds of people dead in the biggest escalation of the decades-old conflict over the disputed region since a separatist war there ended in 1994. The region lies in Azerbaijan but has been under control of ethnic Armenian forces backed by Armenia. 

(Image Credits: AP)