Moscow, Sept 20, (dpa/GNA) – Azerbaijan has confirmed that a ceasefire has been agreed in Nagorno-Karabakh, one day after launching a military operation to capture the disputed region, mainly inhabited by Armenians.
The agreement was brokered by Russian soldiers stationed in the area, and has been in effect since 1 pm (0900 GMT), Azerbaijan’s state news agency Azertac reported on Wednesday, citing the Defence Ministry in Baku.
The Armenian fighters in Nagorno-Karabakh, will be given the opportunity to leave their positions and surrender, it said.
Armenian media earlier reported, that the authorities of the unrecognized Republic of Artsakh that governs Nagorno-Karabakh, had accepted a ceasefire proposal from the Russian side.
On Tuesday, Baku launched a military operation to capture Nagorno-Karabakh, which the two former Soviet neighbours have been fighting over for decades.
If all Karabakh Armenians were to surrender, Baku would have achieved its goal. Meanwhile, the Defence Ministry in Russia, traditionally Armenia’s protective power that has been mediating in the conflict, said that its own soldiers would remain in the region and continue to provide humanitarian aid.
According to Gegham Stepanyan, the rights ombudsman for the local administration, more than two dozen people have been killed and more than 100 have been injured, including civilians, since hostilities broke out again.
GNA