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Azerbaijani forces carry out a strike against the Armenian military during the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh - Sputnik International

Live Updates: Explosions Heard in Nagorno-Karabakh Capital Stepanakert

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Numerous rockets and cluster bombs hit Stepanakert, the capital of the self-proclaimed Nagorno-Karabakh Republic on Tuesday, with Yerevan stating that Azerbaijani forces had launched a major offensive in the southern part of the line of contact.

The clashes between Armenia and Azerbaijan in Nagorno-Karabakh have been going on for a little more than a week, with both sides accusing each other of breaching the ceasefire, shelling cities, and military infrastructure.

Russia, the US, France, Germany, and other countries have urged Yerevan and Baku to stop the fighting and return to the negotiating table. Ankara, meanwhile has declared it will support Azerbaijan "both in talks and combat".

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02:26 GMT 08.10.2020

STEPANAKERT (Sputnik) - Several explosions were heard in the capital of the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR), Stepanakert, a Sputnik correspondent reported.

The blasts occurred at about 5:00 a.m. local time (01:00 a.m. GMT).

At the same time, the authorities turned on the air raid siren, it sounded for about 15 minutes.

Most of the population prefers to spend the night in basements and bomb shelters.

Earlier, the city authorities reported that about 30-40 percent of residents, mainly women, children and old people, left Stepanakert. But residents of villages located on the contact line, where fighting is ongoing, arrived in Stepanakert.

00:19 GMT 08.10.2020

STEPANAKERT (Sputnik) – Stepanakert, the capital of the self-proclaimed Republic of Artsakh, has come under artillery fire again with multiple explosions heard in the city, a Sputnik correspondent reported from the site.

Air raid sirens sound in Stepanakert (called Khankendi in Azerbaijan), the correspondent added.

22:55 GMT 07.10.2020

UNITED NATIONS (Sputnik) - At least 30 Azerbaijani civilians were killed and more than a hundred injured in the ongoing clashes in the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region, Azerbaijan Mission to the United Nations Third Secretary Lala Mehdiyeva said during a UN General Assembly Third Committee meeting.

"Thirty Azerbaijani civilians were killed and 144 wounded. Sixty-six civilian facilities and 427 houses have been destroyed," Mehdiyeva said on Wednesday. "The casualties include women and children. An entire family of five was annihilated."

Hostilities in Nagorno-Karabakh, an Armenian-dominated breakaway region from Azerbaijan, erupted on 27 September when both parties accused each other of violating the existing ceasefire.

Mehdiyeva called for an investigation into what she termed were "egregious war crimes," adding that foreign mercenaries have been recruited to participate in the military operations against Azerbaijan.

"Foreign mercenaries have been recruited as volunteers and used in combat operations against Azerbaijan," she said.

21:46 GMT 07.10.2020

BERLIN (Sputnik) - German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said he had held a phone conversation with his Azerbaijani counterpart, Jeyhun Bayramov, and called on parties to the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh to cease hostilities and resume negotiations under the auspices of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).

“I have held a phone conversation with my Azerbaijani counterpart, Jeyhun Bayramov: the first step must be the ceasefire around Nagorno-Karabakh, after that the resumption of the negotiations under the auspices of the OSCE. I will also speak about that at the meeting of the EU Foreign Affairs Council on Monday," Maas wrote on his Twitter page on late Wednesday.

19:09 GMT 07.10.2020

YEREVAN (Sputnik) - In his congratulatory message to Russian President Vladimir Putin, Armenian President Armen Sarkissian expressed hope that Russia's efforts would help stop the bloodshed in Karabakh in the next few days, the Armenian president's office said.

"I would like to hope that Russia's efforts will make it possible in the very next few days to stop the bloodshed on the borders of Armenia and in the zone of the Karabakh conflict," the message reads.

Sarkissian also noted that Armenia highly appreciated Putin's significant contribution to the development of allied relations, strategic partnership and mutually beneficial cooperation between the two states in the political, economic, military, defense industry and humanitarian spheres.

18:58 GMT 07.10.2020

"On the evening of 7 October, Russian Defence Minister General of the Army Sergei Shoigu held talks by phone with defence ministers David Tonoyan of Armenia and Zakir Hasanov of Azerbaijan", the statement says.

During the talks, the current situation in Nagorno-Karabakh was discussed, the ministry added.

17:48 GMT 07.10.2020
16:38 GMT 07.10.2020

Armenian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Anna Naghdalyan refuted media reports saying that minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan was allegedly planning a meeting with his Azerbaijani counterpart, Jeyhun Bayramov, in Geneva on Thursday.

Bayramov will visit Geneva on Thursday and will meet with the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group.

"The information disseminated in the media about the upcoming meeting does not correspond to reality", Naghdalyan said.

Naghdalyan also said on Facebook that the principled position of Yerevan was that "you cannot conduct negotiations with one hand, and military actions against Armenia and Artsakh with the other".

She also added that the Armenian foreign minister was in constant contact with the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs and representatives of the co-chairing countries.

16:37 GMT 07.10.2020

"On 7 October, under the leadership of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Supreme Commander-in-Chief Ilham Aliyev, an operational meeting was held at the central command post of the Defense Ministry with the participation of the ministry's leadership and commanders of formations deployed in the front-line zone", the press service of the Azerbaijani leader said.

16:07 GMT 07.10.2020

"The conflict should not go beyond the borders of Armenia and Azerbaijan. In fact, the conflict does not even go to the territory of Armenia. Since, despite the shelling from the Armenian territory, we do not strike any strikes on the territory of Armenia, we do not go to the territory of Armenia, although there are all the opportunities for it. The Armenian side is trying to drag the CSTO into this confrontation, unsuccessfully. It is trying to involve European countries. And in fact, it is trying to internationalise this conflict, to which we accordingly present our position on the inadmissibility of such an approach", Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said in an interview with Russia's Channel One.

15:40 GMT 07.10.2020

"Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov will pay a working visit to Geneva on 8 October. The purpose of the visit is to meet with the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs and report on Azerbaijan's position on the settlement of the conflict", the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry said.

15:00 GMT 07.10.2020
14:16 GMT 07.10.2020

French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said on Wednesday that talks on the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh within the efforts of France, Russia and the United States to settle the conflict would take place in Geneva on Thursday and in Moscow on Monday.

"Tomorrow there will be meetings [on Nagorno Karabakh] in Geneva, other meetings will take place in Moscow on Monday. We wish that this will result in opening the negotiations", Le Drian said.

14:15 GMT 07.10.2020

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said that after Nikol Pashinyan had come to power in Armenia, he hoped for changes in Yerevan's policy on Karabakh, since there were "positive messages".

"Yes, there was hope, there were positive messages. I will tell you that the ceasefire regime was stable. But he deceived us. And deception is unacceptable in politics", Aliyev said in an interview with CNN Turk.

13:47 GMT 07.10.2020

"Claims that there are some Kurdish fighters, belonging to some party in the country are total nonsense", Armen Sarkissian stated, daring "to point out just one such person".

13:21 GMT 07.10.2020

BAKU (Sputnik) - Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev on Wednesday said that Paris had not provided evidence pertaining to the involvement of mercenaries in Nagorno-Karabakh.

French President Emmanuel Macron said earlier Paris had information that militants from Syria went to Karabakh to participate in hostilities.

"Ten days have passed, but we have not received evidence from France", Aliyev said in an interview with CNN Turk.

12:26 GMT 07.10.2020

STEPANAKERT (Sputnik) - Ten residential buildings have been destroyed in Stepanakert, the capital of the unrecognised Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, in shelling over the past few days, Deputy Mayor Suren Tamrazyan said.

"Ten houses were destroyed, and road infrastructure was damaged", Tamrazyan told reporters.

According to the deputy mayor, between 30 and 40 percent of Stepanakert residents — mostly children, ill and elderly people — were forced to leave the city amid clashes, the official noted. At the same time, many refugees arrived there from other towns and settlements.

12:09 GMT 07.10.2020

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Armenia may recognise the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic if it comes to the conclusion this could help put an end to the armed conflict with Azerbaijan, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan told Russia's Channel One.

"If our analysis shows that this will be helpful for Karabakh and the solution of the problem, we will take this step. In other case we will abstain", Pashinyan said.

10:30 GMT 07.10.2020
10:24 GMT 07.10.2020

"Yes, there was a phone conversation ... The Azerbaijani president indeed wished Vladimir Vladimirovich a happy birthday, and they briefly discussed the issues related to Karabakh. The dialogue will continue", the Kremlin spokesman told reporters, when asked to confirm reports by the Azerbaijani presidential administration.

09:59 GMT 07.10.2020

"These obligations are related to security guarantees. If a CSTO member state is subject to any aggression or any external attack, then signatories of the deal are obligated to protect this country ... This is all about Armenia, the president has explained this quite clearly. CSTO obligations do not cover Karabakh", Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov explained.

09:29 GMT 07.10.2020

ANKARA (Sputnik) – Ankara has denounced the call of the European Court for Human Rights (ECHR) for Turkey to refrain from violating civilian rights in Nagorno-Karabakh.

A day prior, the ECHR responded to an Armenian appeal by calling on all sides, directly and indirectly, involved in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, including Turkey, to refrain from actions that could lead to violations of the human rights of local civilians.

“The decision of the ECHR in relation to our country in connection with the Armenian attack on Azerbaijan is completely devoid of a legal basis. The ECHR supported Armenia's unfounded claims based on information from social media and the press without taking into account the opinion of our government", a statement from Foreign Ministry Spokesman Hami Aksoy read.

Aksoy went on to say that the court has tarnished its credibility by falling under the influence of “known circles”.

09:24 GMT 07.10.2020
09:05 GMT 07.10.2020

Borrell previously spoke in favour of resuming the talks without any preconditions.

"I am highly concerned over things I heard from Azerbaijani Foreign Minister [Jeyhun Bayramov]. He told me clashes would continue until Armenia's consent to a specific schedule of withdrawing troops from Karabakh. This condition for resuming negotiations is very difficult to accomplish, and the situation escalates every day", Borrell said.

The EU foreign policy chief also expressed concerns over Turkey's support for Baku.

08:55 GMT 07.10.2020
08:34 GMT 07.10.2020
08:30 GMT 07.10.2020
08:02 GMT 07.10.2020

"We hope that this conflict will be ended in the very near future, but if it is not completely settled - apparently there is a long road ahead - but in any case, we urge the sides to cease fire", the Russian president said.

07:39 GMT 07.10.2020

STEPANAKERT (Sputnik) - The Azerbaijani Armed Forces on Wednesday launched suicide drones on civilian facilities in Stepanakert, the Foreign Ministry of the unrecognised Nagorno-Karabakh Republic said.

"The Azerbaijani Armed Forces have once again attacked Stepanakert, right now, suicide drones and missiles are being launched on civilian facilities. We do not have any information about injuries so far", the Foreign Ministry said.

According to a Sputnik correspondent, plumes of smoke can be seen across Stepanakert and its outskirts.

07:14 GMT 07.10.2020
07:03 GMT 07.10.2020

BAKU (Sputnik) – Azerbaijan is not in any way jeopardising the safety of the Armenian people, therefore there is no need for the engagement of Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO) member states in the Karabakh conflict, Maj. Gen. Huseyn Mahmudov, the head of the Azerbaijani Defence Ministry's International Military Cooperation Department, told Sputnik.

"Azerbaijan is conducting combat operations, the counteroffensive on its own territory, we do not pose any threat to the Armenian population and Armenia's borders. So, there is no sense in getting CSTO countries involved in this conflict", Mahmudov explained.

06:40 GMT 07.10.2020
06:28 GMT 07.10.2020
06:19 GMT 07.10.2020

BAKU (Sputnik) - The Azerbaijani Defence Ministry on Wednesday said that fierce fighting had continued along the entire contact line in Karabakh and also reported multiple losses of rival troops.

"On the night into 7 October, fighting continued along the front line. Our troops conducted combat operations in various sections of the front line, in order to consolidate the success achieved over the past days. Artillery strikes by both sides were recorded. As a result of the artillery strikes that we inflicted on the enemy yesterday, an observation post was made inoperative near the defence area of the 5th regiment. There are many killed and injured people", the Azerbaijani Defence Ministry said in a statement.

Azerbaijani forces also took out one tank and three enemy cannons, the ministry went on to say.

According to the Azerbaijani military, personnel from "enemy units" are withdrawing from operational sites due to "food shortages" and "grave problems with ammunition and fuel".

05:27 GMT 07.10.2020

Armenian MoD press secretary Sushan Stepanyan stated that Yerevan has destroyed a petroleum, oil, lubricants (POL) base of the Azerbaijani forces.

05:22 GMT 07.10.2020

According to Artsrun Hovhannisyan, representative of the Armenian Ministry of Defence, Azerbaijani forces are rallying in big groups near the Aras River, which is also on the Iranian border, trying to provoke Karabakh forces into carrying out an attack against Iranian territory.

He also urged Tehran to make Baku stop such provocations.

05:06 GMT 07.10.2020

Mhitar Zakaryan, mayor of the city of Meghri, was wounded during the shelling, local authorities said.

05:03 GMT 07.10.2020

According to Armenian Defence Ministry press secretary Sushan Stepanyan, Azerbaijani forces tried to gain a foothold in the southern part of Karabakh, but were attacked before they reached the city of Jabrayil.

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