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Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan at the UN
Photo: Jason DeCrow/AP
After a good week, the ceasefire brokered by Russia between Armenia and Azerbaijan is already over.
According to consistent reports, there is more shooting at the border between the two ex-Soviet republics.
The governments in Yerevan and Baku accused each other of opening fire first.
First, the Armenian Defense Ministry said that Azerbaijan fired on Armenian positions from various locations in the morning.
Shortly thereafter, the Defense Ministry of Azerbaijan announced that Armenia had repeatedly shelled three different areas of the border region for nine hours since Thursday evening.
Both sides said they fired back.
Armenia speaks of "evidence of torture"
Armenia's Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan had previously accused the neighboring country of "unspeakable atrocities" during the general UN debate.
There is "evidence of torture, mutilation of captured or already killed soldiers and abuse of prisoners of war," said Pashinyan on Thursday (local time) in his UN speech.
Pashinyan added that the body of an Armenian soldier was "mutilated and videotaped by Azerbaijani soldiers."
Such "unspeakable atrocities" are the "direct result of decades of policy by the Azerbaijani leadership, which instills hatred of Armenians in the country's society," said Pashinyan.
Baku violated Armenia's "sovereignty and territorial integrity," fired on civilian infrastructure in the country and forced 7,600 people to flee, Armenian Prime Minister Pashinyan told the United Nations.
Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jejhun Bajramov, who was also present at the UN general debate, listened impassively to Pashinyan's words.
Bayramov will address the UN General Assembly at the weekend.
decades-old conflict
The conflict, which had been smoldering for a long time, had turned violent again on Tuesday of last week.
After two days of fighting in which nearly 200 soldiers were killed, Armenia announced a cease-fire agreement.
The two countries have been at odds for decades over Nagorno-Karabakh, which is mostly inhabited by Armenians.
Under international law, the Caucasus region belongs to Azerbaijan, from which it broke away in 1991.
The conflict escalated into a war in 2020, which ended after six weeks with a Russian-brokered ceasefire.
As part of the deal, the Moscow government then sent thousands of troops to the region to monitor peace.
Armenia is militarily allied with Russia, which is also trying to maintain friendly ties with Azerbaijan.
Azerbaijan is supported militarily and financially by Turkey.
mrc/AFP/Reuters