Azernews.Az

Armenian Armed Forces violated ceasefire with Azerbaijan in several directions on the contact line some 15 times over the past 24 hours, the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry reported.

Armenian soldiers, stationed in the Berkaber village of Armenia's Ijevan District, opened fire at the Azerbaijani armed forces' positions in the Gizilhajili village of the Gazakh District.

Azerbaijani soldiers also went under fire from the positions on the nameless heights and near the villages of Bash Garvand, Shikhlar, Shuraabad of the Aghdam District.

The opposing side was silenced with return fire, the ministry reported.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan.

As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.

The two countries signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, Russia, France and the U.S. are currently holding peace negotiations.

Armenia has not yet implemented four U.N. Security Council resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding regions.