AZERBAIJAN/ARMENIA Border - Armenia and Azerbaijan have agreed to a ceasefire at their border after Moscow urged them to step back from confrontation following deadly clashes.
The agreement follows the worst fighting since a 44-day war last year between ethnic Armenian forces and the Azeri army over the Nagorno-Karabakh enclave that killed at least 6,500 people.
“Fire ceased on the eastern section of the Armenian-Azeri border, and the situation is relatively stable,” Armenia’s Defence Ministry said.
Landmines and unexploded ordnance left behind after intense fighting between Armenia and Azerbaijan last year could take over 10 years to be cleared.
As the two nations mark the first anniversary of the conflict over the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh, de-mining agencies have warned that “a lack of resources and insufficient information are complicating the clean-up operation” despite “thousands of munitions” having been removed already, Al Jazeera said.
“Several people have been killed and injured” since the ceasefire last year, the broadcaster added, while events to commemorate the war have served to highlight “the continued tensions over the breakaway region”, Radio Free Europe (RFE) said.
Open wound
In Azerbaijan, “tens of thousands of people rallied” in Baku, the nation’s capital, to “celebrate the country’s victory in the confrontation with Armenian forces that caused the deaths of some 6,000 people on both sides”, reported RFE.
Despite the war being ended 12 months ago by a Russia-brokered ceasefire agreement, it still remains “unclear how many more prisoners remain in captivity on either side”, the broadcaster added.
“All of Azerbaijan celebrates this glorious holiday,” President Ilham Aliyev told troops assembled to mark the celebration of the nation’s first Victory Day event.
“Azerbaijan has restored its territorial integrity and restored historical justice”, he added. “We have shown the whole world that we are a great nation.”