Armenia, Azerbaijan agree new Nagorno-Karabakh truce: Live

Armenia and Azerbaijan have agreed to a humanitarian ceasefire from midnight, both countries said on Saturday night. The move came after Azerbaijan said 13 civilians were killed in an Armenian missile attack on its second-biggest city, Ganja. The overnight missile raid also wounded dozens of people in their sleep and destroyed a row of homes. The Armenian defence ministry denied the claim and accused Baku of continuing to shell populated areas inside Nagorno-Karabakh, including Stepanakert, the region’s biggest city. Here are the latest updates on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict: Saturday, October 17 19:31 GMT – Macron says Armenia-Azerbaijan truce must be respected French President Emmanuel Macron has welcomed Armenia and Azerbaijan’s agreement to a humanitarian ceasefire from midnight and stressed that it should be strictly respected by both parties. “This ceasefire must be unconditional and strictly observed by both parties. France will be very attentive to this and will remain committed so that hostilities cease permanently and that credible discussions can quickly begin,” the president’s office said in a statement. 19:05 GMT – Armenia, Azerbaijan announce ‘humanitarian truce’ Armenia and Azerbaijan have agreed to a humanitarian ceasefire from midnight, the foreign ministries of both countries said in separate statements. The new agreement was announce following phone calls between Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and his counterparts. Lavrov strongly urged the countries to abide by a Moscow-brokered that frayed immediately after it took force. The two sides trade blame for breaching that deal. “This decision was taken following the statement of the presidents of the French Republic, the Russian Federation and the United States of America, representing the co-chair countries of the OSCE Minsk Group, of Oct. 1 2020, the Statement by the Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group of Oct. 5, and in line with the Moscow Statement of Oct. 10,” Armenia’s foreign ministry said in a statement. 17:47 GMT – Turkic Council condemns Armenia’s attack on Azerbaijan The Turkic Council said on Twitter: “Bombing civilians is against international humanitarian law. The Turkic Council condemns Armenia’s new arbitrary attacks by ballistic missiles on Ganja civilians.” They urged Armenian forces to stop attacking civilians and withdraw their occupying forces from Azerbaijani lands. Omer Kocaman, deputy secretary general of Turkic Council, said these attacks constitute “war crimes.” 17:01 GMT – Three-year-old loses whole family in Ganja missile attack A mother and her 16-month-old daughter have been buried in the same grave after a missile attack on the Azerbaijani city of Ganza that killed at least 13 civilians, as fighting intensifies over the disputed of Nagorno-Karabakh region. Zuleykha Shahnazarova and her daughter Madina Shahnazarli were killed overnight on Saturday, along with the father of the family, Royal Shahnazarov. The couple’s other daughter, three-year-old Khadija Shahnazarli, survived the attack and was being treated in a hospital in the nearby city of Barda. A three-year-old survivor of the Ganja attack [Seymur Kazimov/Al Jazeera] 14:02 GMT – Rescue operation still ongoing in Ganja Al Jazeera’s Hoda Abdel Hamid, reporting from Baku, said the Azeri officials were saying at least two missiles have hit Ganja overnight. “One hit the southwest entrance of the city and the other one – a bit more towards the city centre where the most number of the civilian casualties happened,” she said. “The rescue operation is still ongoing as the body of at least one child is still missing.” style="width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; top: 0; bottom: 0; right: 0; left: 0;">