DHAKA: Azerbaijan has announced a ‘unilateral ceasefire’ in fighting with Armenian forces over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region.

A defense ministry spokesman said the Azeris were acting in response to international calls to halt violence, reports the BBC.

But the Armenia-backed Karabakh forces said this was false and Azerbaijan was continuing to fire shells.

Nagorno-Karabakh has been in the hands of ethnic-Armenian separatists since a war that ended in 1994.

Fighting had continued into Sunday, after clashes left 30 soldiers dead and caused civilian casualties.

‘Azerbaijan, showing goodwill, has decided to unilaterally cease hostilities,’ the Azeri defense ministry said in a statement.

It warned it would strike back if its forces came under attack.

But David Babayan, a Karabakh military spokesman, told the media that fighting had not stopped.

‘Fierce fighting is under way on south-eastern and north-eastern sectors of the Karabakh frontline,’ he said.

Another spokesman, Senor Hasratyan, was quoted by Armenian media as saying Azeri forces were using Grad missiles and heavy artillery to shell the northern Karabakh area of Martakert.

Other reports from Armenia said two Karabakh soldiers had been injured in the fighting.

Earlier, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had said he backed Azerbaijan ‘to the end’ in the clashes.

BDST: 2116 HRS, APR 03, 2016
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