Armenia and Azerbaijan have accused each other of violating the latest cease-fire in the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh - minutes after it came into effect Monday.
It came into effect at 08:00 local time (04:00 GMT) Monday. Two other cease-fires agreed earlier this month over the conflict were broken almost immediately, too.
However, within minutes of the cease-fire coming into effect, Azerbaijan accused Armenian forces of shelling the town of Terter and nearby villages in "gross violation" of the agreement, the BBC and others reported Monday.
Fighting erupted Sept. 27. The conflict has intensified again in recent days.
The U.S. brokered a cease-fire between Armenia and Azerbaijan in the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region over the weekend. The agreement is the third of its kind reached by both nations with the last two being brokered by Russia.
In a joint statement published by the U.S., the Republic of Azerbaijan, and the Republic of Armenia, the three countries stated that they had agreed to impose a humanitarian cease-fire, effective Monday. U.S. President Donald Trump posted his congratulatory remarks Sunday, commending Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev for having reached the agreement.
In his tweet, Trump said that he was "proud" of his team, specifically naming Deputy Secretary of State Stephen Beigun and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Trump added that "many lives will be saved" as a result of the agreement.
The deal was struck a day after Armenian Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan and Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov had flown to Washington to discuss the terms of a cease-fire. Russia previously brokered cease-fire agreements between the two nations, twice in just one month. Unfortunately, the agreements were violated almost immediately with each country blaming the other for firing first.
According to the State Department, the latest agreement should prove to be much more effective as the U.S. is committed to facilitating further negotiations to finally put an end to the conflict in the Nagorno-Karabakh region.
Fighting over the contested region initially broke out September 27 and quickly escalated into live-fire exchanges between the two countries. The conflict had resulted in the deaths of hundreds of soldiers and civilians on both sides, making it the worse clash since the end of the separatist war in the region in 1994.
In their latest tally, Armenia-backed Nagorno-Karabakh officials said that at least 974 of their soldiers had been killed with at least 37 civilians also caught in the crossfire. Azerbaijan has not disclosed how many of their troops had been killed but they did confirm that at least 65 civilians were killed by enemy fire.
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev had previously stated that Armenia must withdraw from the contested region and return its occupied territories to begin peace negotiations. It isn't yet immediately clear if Armenia had agreed to those terms under their new cease-fire.
