Amid a break in shelling in Stepanakert. Photo from social media

In spite of the cease-fire agreed from October 10, shelling and fighting continued to be reported in Nagorno Karabakh in the following two days.

In the morning of October 11, the Defense Army and media in Stepanakert reported at least ten missile attacks on Artsakh’s capital overnight. The Azerbaijani side reported missile strikes against Ganja.

On October 11-12, the Defense Army reported on continued ground operations and shelling around Hadrut, in Karabakh’s south, some 20 kilometres from the old Line of Contact. At the same time, the Defense Army said that its forces were upholding the cease-fire and were ready to fulfill its calls to remove bodies of the soldiers killed from the battlefield, if the other side was ready to do the same. As of October 12, the Armenian side confirmed more than 500 military and 30 civilian deaths. Aliyev refused to publish military casualty data.

There was a pause in shelling on Stepanakert for much of October 11-12, but explosions were again reported after 8:40PM on October 12, local time.

Those reports came after news of Turkish defense minister calling his Russian counterpart, and renewing Turkey’s demand for the “Armenian withdrawal from Karabakh.”

Late on October 12, the Armenian Defense Ministry reported 36 sorties conducted by Azerbaijan and Turkish air forces, and also claimed to curtail attempted ground offensives in “three areas.”