The Azerbaijani Defence Ministry has accused Armenian armed forces of breaking the ceasefire several times over the past two days.
The Defence Ministry reported earlier that Azerbaijani positions had come under fire from Armenian forces in four separate instances on 6 January in one of which an Azerbaijani soldier was badly wounded.
Ministry spokesman Lt-Col Eldar Sabiroglu said that the break in the ceasefire had shattered the relatively long period of quiet along the contact line, APA reported.
"No violation of the ceasefire had been recorded except for an enemy missile strike on our positions," the spokesman said. A missile shell landed near an Azerbaijani village on 17 December, the only ceasefire violation reported in December.
"The Armenian armed forces have been breaking the ceasefire for the last two days," Sabiroglu said. "The Azerbaijani army responds appropriately to the enemy by reprisal fire."
The Armenian, Azerbaijani and Russian presidents signed a declaration in Astrakhan on 27 October, noting the need to reinforce the ceasefire. An Azerbaijani soldier was killed the following day, but a period of relative calm began along the contact line after that.
An Azerbaijani soldier was killed in November in one of only a handful of ceasefire violations that month. Before the Astrakhan declaration exchanges of fire had been occurring almost daily.
Sabre-rattling
Asked by an APA correspondent about remarks by Karabakh separatist leaderBako Sahakyan that Karabakh was ready to deliver a devastating counter-attack at any time, Lt-Col Sabiroglu said: "Armenia’s ruling circles are most probably behind these threats. Bako Sahakyan has begun to speak more often on their orders."
Eldar Sabiroglu said that Armenia was trying to avoid international pressure.
“Armenia wants to show the world that the epicentre of the earthquake is in Nagorno-Karabakh. Although this 'wisdom' is based on Armenia’s usual trickery, it is a cheap move. It is no secret which country started the war. It should not be hidden."
The spokesman went on to say that it was not the people of Karabakh but the people of Armenia who were serving in the Karabakh army. He recalled that the victims in a front-line clash in June were almost all from Armenia, not Karabakh."What were they doing there?" Sabiroglu asked rhetorically.
He went on to indulge in some sabre-rattling.
"Now the enemy is helpless before the Azerbaijani army. They are well aware of it themselves. They are simply accustomed to bluffing. The military operations that will be launched will differ greatly from past operations. The Azerbaijani armed forces have power that even the enemy cannot imagine. We are able to hit any target. Armenia must not rely on a fair wind as it did in the first war. Azerbaijan has not lost trust in the efforts of the international mediators to solve the conflict peacefully within the framework of our country’s territorial integrity, but there is a limit to everything."
Background
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims on the Azerbaijani territory of Nagorno-Karabakh. Armenian armed forces occupied a swathe of Azerbaijani territory from 1992, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. Despite a ceasefire in 1994, no long-term peace agreement has been reached.
The nub of the conflict remains unresolved - the competing claims of territorial integrity, which Azerbaijan insists takes precedence in the case of Karabakh, and self-determination, which Armenia wants to see for the Armenians of Karabakh.
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