The truce lasted less than a day: the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh escalated

The residents of Stepanakert (Nagorno-Karabakh) spent the night of October 10-11 in the basements again. The ceasefire, announced at 12:00 on Saturday, October 10, lasted less than a day. The Azerbaijani side blamed Armenia for its disruption, announcing a new shelling of the city of Ganja, as a result of which a residential building was destroyed, at least nine people were killed. The Armenian military deny that they fired at the city and accuse Azerbaijan of violating the ceasefire. Details told the publication with the BBC.

Photo: Shutterstock

In the afternoon of Saturday, October 10, the air raid siren did not sound in Stepanakert for the first time in a long time. Many residents, who spent two weeks in a row in basements, began to take to the streets and go up to their apartments.

They often gather near buildings, discuss the latest news and sometimes look anxiously at the sky.

Pensioner Sargis recently had a birthday, which he and his neighbors celebrated in the basement: “I turned 70 yesterday. We killed a rabbit, boiled potatoes, and we always have vodka. Well, this is how they celebrate birthdays,” he describes the holiday.

“We live in a five-story building,” he says. “But now it’s dangerous to be in apartments, we’re in the basement.” All these two weeks we lived in the basement. And during the first war we were in the basement for eight months.”

Old men in the basement

“Every day one shell falls: one day there, another here, the third there,” Sargis’s friend Gevorg describes the military life of the quarter. “They’re just hitting the city.” I have four small children and my wife is still pregnant. Early in the morning, at 7 am, they began to bomb the city. My home was not damaged, but my neighbor’s was. They don’t look at who they hit, they just hit.”

Gevorg and Sargis did not believe in the durability of the ceasefire announced following the talks in Moscow from the very beginning. Although it was quiet in Stepanakert on Saturday, shooting continued in the city of Hadrut on the southern front, and from early in the morning, villages near the Armenian city of Kapan were shelled.

Despite the announced truce, there are still several elderly women in the basement, who are still afraid to go up to their apartments.

“Is there a truce at all? — one of them clarifies. “If they knew for sure that there was a truce, they would have gone out, gone home at least a little bit.” We don't know. What if they bomb? There was a siren this morning. There was a siren until half past twelve, then at one o’clock there was a siren, and there was a truce.”

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“We lived here during the first war, and we are going through the second, and already the third war,” says her neighbor. “I hope this will be the last one, and we will be recognized.” Isn’t it a pity that so many people are dying? So, she ran from the blast wave and fell, hurting her face. Why should I fall? My children are fighting there, but I don’t know anything, I can’t get through to them.”

There are candles attached to the pipes along the walls in case of a power outage. Residents of the basement describe how the power plant office across the street from their home was bombed a few days ago. And on another day, a shell hit a nearby paint and varnish store, so it was all burnt out: “We are not on the front line, but we see how many drones are flying into the city. We see them. Helicopters fly, airplanes fly. Is this possible with civilians?”

“We were unlucky with the enemy”

Arleta Mirzoyan has lived in Karabakh all her life, and when the war began, she did not think about evacuating anywhere. All the children were taken to Armenia, and she and the other old people waited out all the days of shelling in the basement. She says that she could not leave because her two sons and two grandchildren are fighting at the front: “They are in different places on the border, how can I leave them and leave here? This is impossible.”

Her grandchildren are fighting for the second time: they took part in the hostilities when another escalation occurred in Nagorno-Karabakh in the spring of 2016. One of them was 18 years old at the time, the other was 20: “They fought then. And now they voluntarily came here from Armenia to defend their homeland.”

“I’m a midwife by profession, but I’m retired now,” says Arleta. — My eldest son is a vascular surgeon, my youngest son is a lawyer. The grandchildren are studying at the university in Yerevan, one to become a lawyer, the other to become a financier. My daughter is in St. Petersburg. We have a big family. I would like there to be peace and for children not to die here - it’s terrible.”

From one of the neighbors Arleta heard that the truce would last two days, other residents of Stepanakert talked about 72 hours of calm. But not even a day had passed when the capital of Nagorno-Karabakh was again shelled, and the residents had to return to the cellars.

Armenia accused Azerbaijan of violating the ceasefire. Azerbaijan, in turn, stated that the Armenian military fired at the city of Ganja, and this was the reason for the breakdown of the truce.

Shelling of Ganja

At least nine people died under the ruins of a residential building in the city center, which was hit by a rocket. Dozens more were injured.

Armenian military denies striking civilian targets in Azerbaijan, writes with the BBC.

Ganja is the second most populous city in Azerbaijan, it is located 60 kilometers from the front line.

The first shell hit here on October 4 - that day one person was killed and 30 were wounded. The Azerbaijani National Mine Action Agency reported shelling on October 11 of other towns and villages on the Azerbaijani side.

A representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the unrecognized NKR, when asked whether new shelling means the end of the truce and a return to active hostilities, replied: “It’s difficult to say, but at least what is happening is far from observing the truce. Let's not rush yet, let's see what they come up with this time. We were unlucky with the enemy, that’s all.”

Clashes between Armenia and Azerbaijan in Nagorno-Karabakh escalated at the end of September... Baku and Yerevan accuse each other of the start of hostilities. Martial law and general mobilization were introduced in Armenia. Men between the ages of 18 and 55 were banned from leaving the country. A curfew was announced in Azerbaijan and a partial mobilization was carried out.

On the first day of the conflict, September 27, the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry announced that Armenia had shelled settlements in the direction of Tertar, Jabrayil and Fizuli, and the Azerbaijani army had launched a full-scale counteroffensive to protect the civilian population.

Armenia claims the opposite: Azerbaijan was the first to attack. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said that at 8:00 am local time, Azerbaijan launched air and missile attacks.

On the subject: Armenian diaspora in Glendale has renamed the street in honor of Nagorno-Karabakh

As ForumDaily wrote earlier:

• After the start of the clashes both countries have declared martial law... Armenia reported the death of two civilians, Azerbaijan - the death of a family of five and the injury of 19 citizens. In addition, the Armenian military reported the loss of 16 soldiers and the injury of about a hundred more people. Azerbaijan has not officially announced the deaths, Armenia reports the deaths of 200 Azerbaijani soldiers.
• Into the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh a NATO member country can be involved.
• The conflict began in 1988, when the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region announced its withdrawal from Soviet Azerbaijan. After the armed confrontation in 1992-1994, Baku lost control over the region, as well as over the seven adjacent regions. Since 1992, negotiations have been underway on a peaceful settlement of the conflict within the framework of the OSCE Minsk Group, headed by three co-chairs - Russia, the United States and France.
• Russian President Vladimir Putin, French President Emmanuel Macron and US President Donald Trump issued a joint statement. They are called on the parties to the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh to stop hostilities.

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