A ceasefire between Armenia and Azerbaijan in their conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh came into force on Saturday at 12 pm (0800 GMT), with Azerbaijan already complaining of violations from the opposite side.
According to a tweet by Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Defence, Armenian forces were firing at the regions of Terter and Agdam in Azerbaijan, shortly after the ceasefire came into force. The firing could not be immediately confirmed.
Before the ceasefire took effect – after hours-long negotiations mediated by Russia – the situation on the ground was tense.
Armenia reported several airstrikes, and the spokesperson for the Armenian military, Shushan Stepanyan, wrote on Facebook that Azerbaijan was trying to gain an advantage before the ceasefire.
Azerbaijan, on the other hand, accused Yerevan of shelling some of its settlements.
Stepanyan confirmed on Saturday that the Armenian military had received an order to stop firing.
Hundreds of people have died since fighting broke out between Azeri and Armenian forces over the disputed region at the end of September. Armenia says more than 400 soldiers were killed.
Azerbaijan has not made its losses public. The region is controlled by Christian Armenian troops but recognized by the United Nations as part of predominantly Muslim Azerbaijan.
Azerbaijan and Armenia previously fought a war over the territory in the late 1980s and early 1990s as they transitioned into independent countries amid the dissolution of the Soviet Union, with a fragile peace treaty in place since 1994.
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