First Nagorno-Karabakh ceasefire breach reported by Armenia

Deal between Armenia, Azerbaijan and Russia last month ended six weeks of heavy fighting over breakaway enclave

Russian peacekeeping military vehicles outside Lachin after Moscow brokered a truce in the Armenian-majority breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh on November 10, 2020. AFP

Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev welcomes Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, right, as they attend a parade in the Azerbaijani capital Baku on December 10, 2020 to celebration the end of fighting in Nagorno-Karabakh. Turkish Presidency via AP

Azerbaijani troops march during a celebration parade in Baku on December 10, 2020. AP Photo

Members of a Turkish forces commando brigade take part in the military parade in Baku, Azerbaijan, on December 10, 2020. AP Photo

An Azeri army armoured vehicle with mounted with a drone drives during the parade in Baku. Reuters

Protesters rally in the Armenian capital Yerevan on December 11, 2020 to demand the resignation of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan over a peace agreement with Azerbaijan that ended six weeks of war over the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh. AFP

Police arrest a protester during a demonstration against Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan in Yerevan. Armenians are upset by the government's agreement to cede three districts of Nagorno-Karabakh to Azerbaijan in addition four others seized by Azerbaijani forces during the fighting that began on September 27, 2020. AFP

Marine Sargasyan, left, her stepdaughter Anzhelika Astribabayan and her grandchildren children take refuge in a hotel room in Nagorno-Karabakh's main city of Stepanakert after fleeing the nearby town of Shusha. AFP

Two men repair the roof of a house destroyed by fighting in Stepanakert. AFP

A vendor sells a traditional bread at a street market in Karabakh's main city of Stepanakert on November 28, 2020. AFP

Elmira Grigoryan, 70, a refugee from the village of Vazgenashen which is under the control of Azerbaijan, queues to receive a food package in Stepanakert. AFP

A ceasefire deal brokered last month to end six weeks of intense conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over breakaway enclave Nagorno-Karabakh has been breached for the first time.

The defence ministries of Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh said the villages of Hin Tagher and Khtsaberd in the southern region of Hadrut were attacked by Azerbaijani forces.

The first breach was reportedly on Friday evening, with more skirmishes taking place on Saturday.

The Artsakh Defence Army, named after the Armenian term for the enclave, said three of its reserve soldiers were killed in Friday's skirmishes.

But Azerbaijan claimed the rival force provoked the encounter.

Russia, which is overseeing the peacekeeping operation in the region, confirmed the ceasefire had been breached.

"At twenty-three observation posts, Russian peacekeepers are monitoring the situation around the clock and control over the observance of the ceasefire," its Ministry of Defence told Tass news agency.

"On December 11, one case of violation of the ceasefire in the Hadrut region was recorded."

Armenia's Prime Minister, Nikol Pashinyan, and Azerbaijan's President, Ilham Aliyev, signed a deal on November 9 with Russian President Vladimir Putin, on a truce for Nagorno-Karabakh.

The deal included the return of occupied territories and the presence of Russian peacekeepers for up to five years.

It favoured Azerbaijan and led to victory parades in Baku and a month of protests in Yerevan.

Most of the Hadrut region was seized by Azerbaijan during bloody clashes, although some villages remained under the control of ethnic Armenians.

More than 5,000 people, including 144 civilians, died over the course of the short conflict.

That figure is expected to rise, with the operation to retrieve bodies still under way, hampered by icy and cold winter weather.

Nagorno-Karabakh is in Azerbaijan but is controlled by ethnic Armenians.