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Yerevan reports shelling of settlement in Nagorno-Karabakh by Azerbaijani army

Cluster munitions were used, the information center under the Armenian government said

YEREVAN, October 15. /TASS/. The settlement of Krasny Bazar in the zone of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict has come under shelling by the Azerbaijani army, the information center under the Armenian government said on Thursday.

"The Azerbaijani armed forces have once again violated the agreement on the humanitarian ceasefire and delivered a strike at the settlement of Krasny Bazar from the Smerch systems. Cluster munitions were used. According to preliminary information, one civilian was killed," it said.

Following Russia-initiated consultations in Moscow, Azerbaijan and Armenia agreed on a humanitarian ceasefire from 11:00 Moscow time on October 10 to exchange prisoners and the bodies of those killed.

Renewed clashes between Azerbaijan and Armenia erupted on September 27, with intense battles raging in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh. The area experienced flare-ups of violence in the summer of 2014, in April 2016 and this past July. Azerbaijan and Armenia have imposed martial law and launched mobilization efforts. Both parties to the conflict have reported casualties, among them civilians.

The conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the highland region of Nagorno-Karabakh, a disputed territory that had been part of Azerbaijan before the Soviet Union break-up, but primarily populated by ethnic Armenians, broke out in February 1988 after the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region announced its withdrawal from the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic. In 1992-1994, tensions boiled over and exploded into large-scale military action for control over the enclave and seven adjacent territories after Azerbaijan lost control of them. Talks on the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement have been ongoing since 1992 under the OSCE Minsk Group, led by its three co-chairs - Russia, France and the United States.