Azerbaijan: Unilateral cease-fire against Nagorno-Karabakh

Remains of a downed Azerbaijani forces helicopter lies in a field in the separatist Nagorno-Karabakh region, on Saturday, April 2

Azerbaijan’s Defense Ministry announced a unilateral cease-fire yesterday against the separatist region of Nagorno-Karabakh, a claim that rebel forces there promptly rejected.
Fighting in what was a dormant conflict for two decades flared up over the weekend with a boy and at least 30 troops killed on both sides. Each side blamed the other for Saturday’s escalation, the worst since the end of a full-scale war in 1994.
The defense ministry said, in response to pleas from international organizations, it will be unilaterally “suspending a counter-offensive and response on the territories occupied by Armenia.” The ministry added it will not focus on fortifying the territory that Azerbaijan has “liberated.” It did not elaborate.
Nagorno-Karabakh, a region in Azerbaijan, has been under the control of local ethnic Armenian forces and the Armenian military since a war ended in 1994 with no resolution of the region’s status. The conflict is fueled by long-simmering tensions between Christian Armenians and mostly Muslim Azeris.
Armenian forces also occupy several areas outside Nagorno-Karabakh proper. The sides are separated by a demilitarized buffer zone, but small clashes have broken out frequently.
Officials in the self-proclaimed republic of Nagorno-Karabakh promptly disputed the reports of Azerbaijan’s unilateral cease-fire. David Babayan, spokesman for the Karabakh president, told AP yesterday that they had not seen any signs that fighting was suspended. AP