At least 13 dead after rocket attacks in Azerbaijan

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Residents of the city of Tartar in Azerbaijan look at the damage to a house after a shelling by Armenian forces

Photo: Ismail Coskun / dpa

One week after the agreed ceasefire, the fighting in the conflict region Nagorno-Karabakh in the South Caucasus continues.

Azerbaijan reported heavy attacks by the Armenian side on Saturday night on Ganja, the country's second largest city.

At least 13 people were killed in the rocket fire, said the civil protection ministry in the capital Baku.

Several rows of houses in the city of 300,000 were destroyed in the attack.

The bodies, including children, were also found under this rubble.

In addition, there were more than 50 injured.

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev called the attack a war crime on television and threatened that the Armenian leadership would be held accountable.

"We will take revenge on the battlefield," he said in a speech.

He described the Armenian forces in Nagorno-Karabakh and their supporters in Armenia as "dogs", "fascists" and "wild animals".

Armenia denied responsibility and in return accused its enemy neighbors of being behind the attack themselves and of using this as "propaganda" against the Armenians.

Civilians killed after ceasefire violations

Armenia, in turn, reported rocket attacks by the Azerbaijani side, including on the capital of Nagorno-Karabakh.

At least three civilians were injured in Stepanakert.

Among other things, the roof of a shopping center was partially destroyed, as the AFP news agency reported.

Both sides accused each other of having again violated the ceasefire.

It came about last Saturday with the mediation of Russia.

The Azerbaijani military also announced that it had shot down an Armenian fighter jet.

The Armenian Defense Ministry immediately denied it and said it had shot down two drones from the opposing side.

Azerbaijan reported further territorial gains at the front, and the military had brought the city of Fizuli and seven surrounding villages under control.

This region borders on Nagorno-Karabakh and was occupied by Armenia.

Thousands of refugees in decades of conflict

The two ex-Soviet republics have been fighting for decades for the mountainous region with around 145,000 inhabitants.

Nagorno-Karabakh is controlled by Armenia, but under international law it belongs to the Islamic part of Azerbaijan.

In a war that followed the collapse of the Soviet Union some 30 years ago, Azerbaijan lost control of the area.

A fragile ceasefire has existed since 1994.

Thousands of people have now fled the mountain region, which is predominantly inhabited by Christian Karabakh Armenians.

The Armenian Defense Ministry said more than 600 soldiers had been killed since the new fighting began on September 27.

Azerbaijan has so far not provided any information on losses in its armed forces.

More than 50 civilians were killed in Armenian attacks.

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rai / AFP / dpa