Fighting over the separatist territory of Nagorno-Karabakh raged on Tuesday, unimpeded by a U.S.-brokered cease-fire, while Armenia and Azerbaijan traded blame for the deal’s quick unraveling.
YEREVAN, Armenia — Fighting over the separatist territory of Nagorno-Karabakh raged on Tuesday, unimpeded by a U.S.-brokered cease-fire, while Armenia and Azerbaijan traded blame for the deal’s quick unraveling. Azerbaijan accused Armenia of striking the Barda region with rockets, killing four civilians, including a 2-year-old girl, and wounding 13 others. The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry denounced the attack as “another war crime committed by Armenia in recent days in gross violation of the agreed humanitarian ceasefire.” Armenia’s Defense Ministry rejected the accusations as “an absolute lie and a dirty provocation.” But it also conceded that Azerbaijani forces had “made advances in some directions.” In an address to the nation Tuesday, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian vowed that Nagorno-Karabakh forces will mount a counter-attack with a “destructive effect for the enemy.” Earlier in the day, the Armenian military accused Azerbaijani forces of firing at Armenian border guard positions on the country’s southern border with Iran, adding that it has retaliated. Azerbaijan’s Defense Ministry rejected the statement as “false and provocative.” The U.S.-brokered truce frayed instantly after taking effect Monday, just like two earlier truces negotiated by Russia, with the warring parties blaming each other for violations. In a bid to save the deal, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo spoke separately to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenia’s Pashinian on Tuesday. He pressed them to “abide by their commitments to cease hostilities and pursue a diplomatic solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict,” the State Department said, emphasizing that “there is no military solution to this conflict.” The United Nations deplored the situation. “We continue to express our concern and frankly our frustration at the reports of continued fighting,” U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.
