Video footage shows Armenian forces breaking cease-fire

TARTAR, Azerbaijan

Video taken by Anadolu Agency shows Armenian forces on Tuesday violating a recently announced cease-fire by launching heavy attacks on Azerbaijan.

Agency drone footage is evidence that Armenian armed forces have been opening heavy artillery fire against the center of the Tartar region since Sept. 27, when it launched its current round of attacks on Azerbaijan.

The footage shows artillery fire from the Armenian side randomly targeting civilian homes in Azerbaijani territory.

Locals in the region tell Anadolu Agency that Armenian forces have been targeting the Azerbaijani village since Tuesday morning.

Civilians are hiding in shelters to avoid artillery fire.

A humanitarian cease-fire was agreed to on Saturday for the exchange of prisoners and retrieval of bodies in Upper Karabakh, an Azerbaijani territory under Armenian occupation.

The truce came after a trilateral meeting in Moscow on Friday between the foreign ministers of Russia, Azerbaijan, and Armenia.

From Sept. 27 until Oct. 13, at least 42 Azerbaijani civilians have lost their lives and more than 200 were injured, said the country's chief prosecutor's office.

Clashes erupted between the two countries on Sept. 27, and since then Armenia has continued attacks on civilians and Azerbaijani forces.

Relations between the two former Soviet republics have been tense since 1991 when the Armenian military occupied Upper Karabakh, or Nagorno-Karabakh, an internationally recognized territory of Azerbaijan.

Some 20% of Azerbaijan's territory has remained under illegal Armenian occupation for nearly three decades.

Multiple UN resolutions, as well as international organizations, demand the withdrawal of the invading forces. Turkey has consistently supported Azerbaijan’s right to self-defense and demanded the withdrawal of Armenia's occupying forces.