Report: 25 Civilians Killed, Dozens Wounded in Nagorno-Karabakh Attacks

Azerbaijan and Armenia traded accusations of breaking the most recent cease-fire between the two countries in the violence over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh enclave. Azerbaijan said that on Wednesday that Armenia had used cluster bombs against civilians in densely populated areas of Barda, a city in eastern Azerbaijan, near Nagorno-Karabakh. Armenian authorities denied the reports. The Convention on Cluster Munitions, a treaty ratified or acceded to by 111 countries, bans the use, transfer, and stockpiling of cluster bombs, but neither Armenia nor Azerbaijan are signatories to the treaty. In the past two days, 25 civilians have been killed and dozens wounded, according to reports by the Azerbaijan authorities. Azerbaijani presidential aide Hikmet Hajiyev told sources that Armenian forces fired cluster missiles against Barda “to inflict excessive casualties among civilians. Armenian authorities also accused Azerbaijan of attacking civilians following the breakdown of Monday’s cease-fire. The United States negotiated the most recent of three cease-fires between the combatants. It was broken, allegedly by both sides, just minutes after going into effect on Monday morning.