Azerbaijan has said it's ceasing fire following fierce clashes with
Armenian forces in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh. Many have
been reported killed since fighting broke out on Saturday.
The country's defense ministry said on Sunday it was putting an end to fighting after a day of clashes in the disputed region.
"Azerbaijan, showing good will, has decided to unilaterally cease hostilities," the ministry said in a statement, according to the AFP news agency.
Fighting erupted with Armenian troops on Saturday afternoon, with both sides accusing the other of starting the hostilities. An Azerbaijani defense official said Armenian forces had fired artillery across the front line, although the Armenian Defense Ministry's account of the situation contradicted that.
Tens of thousands dead since 1991
Azerbaijan claimed 12 of its soldiers had been killed, while Armenian President Serzh Sarkisian said 18 ethnic Armenians had lost their lives and 35 others had been injured.
The clashes were in violation of a decades-old cease-fire put into place following the outbreak of war in 1991 after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Despite attempts by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe to resolve the dispute, sporadic clashes have erupted since.
All in all, some 30,000 people have lost their lives since the conflict began in the early 1990s.
blc/jlw (AFP, AP)
"Azerbaijan, showing good will, has decided to unilaterally cease hostilities," the ministry said in a statement, according to the AFP news agency.
Fighting erupted with Armenian troops on Saturday afternoon, with both sides accusing the other of starting the hostilities. An Azerbaijani defense official said Armenian forces had fired artillery across the front line, although the Armenian Defense Ministry's account of the situation contradicted that.
Tens of thousands dead since 1991
Azerbaijan claimed 12 of its soldiers had been killed, while Armenian President Serzh Sarkisian said 18 ethnic Armenians had lost their lives and 35 others had been injured.
The clashes were in violation of a decades-old cease-fire put into place following the outbreak of war in 1991 after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Despite attempts by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe to resolve the dispute, sporadic clashes have erupted since.
All in all, some 30,000 people have lost their lives since the conflict began in the early 1990s.
blc/jlw (AFP, AP)
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