Sun 18 October 2020:
Armenia and Azerbaijan accused each other of violating a new humanitarian ceasefire in fighting over Azerbaijan’s ethnic-Armenian-controlled enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh.
Meanwhile Azerbaijan shot down another Armenian Su-25 fighter jet, according to the country’s ministry of defense, the second Su-25 to be downed in recent days.
In a statement, the ministry said the Su-25 attack aircraft was trying to launch airstrikes on Azerbaijani positions in the Jabrayil region when it was shot down.
The jet was destroyed by Azerbaijani forces at around 12:30 p.m. (0830GMT), the ministry said.
Azerbaijan showcases Karabakh conquests
Azerbaijan has spent days trumpeting military successes that give the air of an army on the move.
“If they don’t leave on their own, we’ll chase them out like dogs,” President Ilham Aliyev said on the eve of the now failed ceasefire after both sides accused each other of immediately breaking.
On Twitter, Aliyev listed towns his forces have recaptured for the first time since a 1994 truce ended a war that killed 30,000 and left the region in separatist hands. Most prominent among those towns are Jabrayil.
Armenia suffers heavy losses on front line, says Azeri military
Armenia suffered heavy losses as Azerbaijan pushed forward along the front line of the battle, Azerbaijani Defense Ministry said.
Refuting claims of heavy losses on Azerbaijan’s side, the ministry said that the Azerbaijani army was exerting “operational superiority along the entire front,” said the ministry’s statement.
Clashes erupted between the two countries September 27 and Armenia has since continued its attacks on civilians and Azerbaijani forces, even violating a humanitarian cease-fire that came into force last week.
‘Armenian forces grossly violated agreement’
Azerbaijan accused Armenian forces of violating the ceasefire over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region just hours after it was due to have taken effect at midnight.
“Armenian forces grossly violated another agreement,” the defence ministry in Baku said in a statement, accusing them of firing artillery and mortars in various directions and of launching early morning attacks along the front line.
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