Connect with us

World

Azerbaijan halts Karabakh offensive after ceasefire deal with Armenian separatists

Published

on

Azerbaijan said on Wednesday it had halted military action in its breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh after its battlefield success forced Armenian separatist forces to agree to a ceasefire that will see the area fully return to Baku’s control, Reuters reported.

Under the agreement, outlined by Azerbaijan and the Russian Defence Ministry, which has peacekeepers on the ground, separatist forces are meant to disband and disarm, while talks on the future of ethnic Armenians who live there are due to start on Thursday.

In a speech to the nation on Wednesday evening, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said Baku had restored its sovereignty “with an iron fist” in a 24-hour offensive by troops backed by artillery strikes that brought the breakaway region to heel.

He said Armenian forces had begun handing over their weapons and leaving, and that Karabakh’s 120,000 Armenians would be able to take part in Azerbaijani elections, receive state education, and freely practice their Christianity in his Muslim-majority nation.

“We will turn Karabakh into paradise,” said Aliyev, who said he was a man of his word.

Karabakh, a mountainous area in the volatile wider South Caucasus region, is internationally recognised as Azerbaijani territory, but part of it has been run by separatist Armenian authorities since a war that ended in the early 1990s.

Armenians claim a long historical dominance in the area, which they call Artsakh. Azerbaijan links its historical identity to the territory too.

Fearful of what the future might hold, thousands of Armenians massed at the airport in Stepanakert, the capital of Karabakh known as Khankendi by Azeris. Others took shelter with Russian peacekeepers in the hope of being flown out.

As Karabakh has been the focus of two wars since the 1991 fall of the Soviet Union, many of its Armenians deeply distrust Azerbaijan. Neighbouring Armenia has accused Baku of trying to ethnically cleanse the territory, something Baku denies.

“They are basically saying to us that we need to leave, not stay here, or accept that this is a part of Azerbaijan – this is basically a typical ethnical cleansing operation,” Ruben Vardanyan, a former top official in Karabakh’s ethnic Armenian administration, told Reuters.

Another separatist Armenian official said at least 200 people had been killed in the fighting and more than 400 wounded. He said 10 of those killed were civilians, of whom five were children. Reuters could not verify his assertion.

The victory for Azerbaijan, whose forces far outnumbered the separatists and which is backed by Turkey, could cause political turmoil in neighbouring Armenia, where some political forces are angry that the government was unable to do more to protect the Karabakh Armeniansm, read the report.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan is already facing calls from some opponents to resign and thousands of protesters gathered in the Armenian capital on Wednesday evening to demand that the government do more for the Karabakh Armenians.

Some of them yelled “Nikol is a traitor!”.

Others are furious that Russia, which has peacekeepers on the ground and helped broker an earlier ceasefire deal in 2020 following a 44-day war, did not stop Azerbaijan.

The Kremlin rejected that criticism on Wednesday and President Vladimir Putin was quoted as saying that Russian peacekeepers, some of whom were killed on Wednesday when their car was shot at, would protect Karabakh’s civilian population, Reuters reported.

But Moscow has not criticised Baku. Describing a phone call between Putin and Pashinyan, the Kremlin said Putin “noted with satisfaction that it was possible to overcome the acute phase of the conflict, and welcomed the agreement … on a complete cessation of hostilities and the holding of negotiations on Sept. 21”.

Separatists running the self-styled “Republic of Artsakh” said they had been forced to agree to Azerbaijan’s terms – relayed by Russian peacekeepers – after Baku’s army broke through their lines and seized strategic locations.

Azerbaijan had said it could no longer tolerate a situation it regarded as a threat to its security and territorial sovereignty.

Separatist fighters were expected to leave Karabakh for Armenia after handing over their tanks and artillery to Russian peacekeepers, though some of them figure on an Azerbaijani wanted list and are likely to be arrested.

Armenia, which says it has no forces in Karabakh despite Azerbaijani assertions, did not intervene militarily – something that Aliyev said he appreciated.

It was unclear how many ethnic Armenians would opt to stay in Karabakh, Reuters reported.

Russia’s defence ministry, which has thousands of peacekeepers on the ground, broadcast footage of Karabakh Armenians being given temporary shelter at a makeshift Russian military facility.

Armenian Deputy Foreign Minister Paruyr Hovhannissyan told Reuters that Karabakh Armenians could “in an ideal world” live under Azerbaijani rule but that historical experience made it hard to imagine.

Azerbaijan’s military operation had faced sharp criticism from the United States and some European countries.

They said the Karabakh problem should have been solved through talks and that Baku’s actions were worsening an already dire humanitarian situation on the ground following a nine-month blockade of the area by Azerbaijan that caused acute shortages of food and other staples.

World

Saudi Aramco helicopter crash kills 14 nationals, state news agency says

Published

on

A helicopter belonging to Saudi ​oil giant Aramco crashed on Sunday ‌in Ras Tanura on Saudi Arabia’s eastern coast on the Gulf, west of the Strait of ​Hormuz, killing 14 nationals, the state ​news agency reported, adding that the ⁠cause was unknown.

Aramco had resumed crude oil loadings ​on Friday at its Ras Tanura terminal ​in the Gulf after they were halted for nearly four months, Reuters reported.

“The relevant authorities have launched a ​full investigation to determine the cause ​of the crash,” the state news agency added.

Aramco did ‌not ⁠respond immediately to an emailed request for comment.

The incident took place at 6 a.m. local time (0300 GMT), the state agency ​said, without providing ​further ⁠details.

Saudi Arabia, the world’s biggest oil exporter, has joined a rush ​to move cargoes after Middle ​East ⁠producers ramped up oil and gas output and exports ahead of an interim deal ⁠to ​halt the war between the ​United States and Iran.

Continue Reading

World

Israel, Lebanon sign initial agreement after US-mediated talks

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the agreement allows Israeli forces to continue to occupy southern Lebanon if Hezbollah does not disarm.

Published

on

Israel and Lebanon signed a framework agreement in Washington on Friday following several days of talks to secure an end to fighting between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollahmilitants, though ‌both sides framed the deal as an initial step, Reuters reported.

Lebanese Ambassador Nada Moawad and her Israeli counterpart Yechiel Leiter signed the trilateral document with the U.S. at the State Department in Washington, providing few details.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the agreement allows Israeli forces to continue to occupy southern Lebanon if Hezbollah does not disarm.

“Today we’ve taken the first step in what will be a difficult journey, without a doubt, but an important and an essential ​and a necessary one,” U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said before the agreement was inked.

In a later statement he said that the U.S. would facilitate the implementation of ​the deal through a trilateral “Military Coordination Group for Lebanon” and that Washington would commit significant resources, including an immediate $100 million in humanitarian assistance in ⁠coordination with the U.N.

Rubio added that the U.S. reaffirmed its intent to improve the capabilities of the Lebanese Armed Forces “to more effectively establish sovereignty throughout Lebanese territory” with more than $30 million in funds ​under existing U.S. authorities and appropriations.

The conflict between Israel and Hezbollah broke out when the armed group fired at Israel on March 2, days after the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran. The Hezbollah ​attacks triggered Israeli air and ground attacks that have killed more than 4,000 people in Lebanon and displaced more than a million.

Lebanon’s Moawad also called it a “first step” on the road to restoring Lebanese sovereignty.

“Iran is out, Hezbollah is out, and the road to peace between Israel and Lebanon is in,” Leiter said.

Netanyahu said in a statement that the deal would also allow the Lebanese army “to begin organizing to take control of territory,” starting with ​what he described as two “pilot zones” from which Israeli troops would withdraw from land they occupied during the war.

Israel describes that territory as a “security zone” or “buffer zone” where its troops can thwart ​Hezbollah attacks on northern Israel.

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said the agreement should allow Lebanese to return to “fully liberated” land and rebuilt homes with “no partner” in its sovereignty.

Israel’s death toll from this round of hostilities with Hezbollah ‌includes at least ⁠32 soldiers and four Israeli civilians. Hezbollah does not release figures on its war dead. Reuters reported on May 4 that several thousand Hezbollah fighters had been killed in the war.

A State Department official told Reuters on Thursday that Israel had agreed to pull back from some of the territory it has occupied, something Israeli and Lebanese officials denied.

Before the talks resumed this week, Israel and Hezbollah agreed to halt fire even as Israel kept troops in southern Lebanon.

Violence has persisted since the ceasefire, with Israel saying on Friday its troops had struck and killed what the military described as seven ​Hezbollah members who were operating near the territory ​it is occupying. Reuters could not confirm ⁠this.

“To the degree that the Lebanese army performs in dismantling and disarming Hezbollah, we will proceed with additional pilot zones and the ultimate determination of an internationally recognized, secure, and agreed upon border,” Leiter told reporters after the signing.

Hezbollah lawmaker Hassan Fadlallah said Lebanese authorities would not be ​able to enforce the agreement unless, with U.S. support, “they go to civil war,” pro-Iranian broadcaster Al Mayadeen reported, read the report.

Hezbollah would confront any measure taken ​by Lebanese authorities and ⁠would hold on to its weapons even more, adding that the group’s opposition was “serious” and would not allow authorities to implement their commitments on the ground, Fadlallah said.

Israeli forces dropped leaflets over the southern Lebanese town of Mansouri on Friday ordering residents to leave, Lebanese state media reported, the first such order issued since the latest ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah took effect.

A senior Lebanese military ⁠official said Israel ​had recently added Mansouri to its occupation zone. The official said Lebanese farmers had continued to enter and leave ​the town, but had not been living there.

An Israeli military spokesperson said the military issued what it described as a “reminder” to the civilian population that “the area is within the security zone in which (Israeli) soldiers operate. It’s a reminder not to be ​in the area so they won’t be harmed.”

Continue Reading

World

Venezuela earthquake death toll rises to 188 as rescue efforts continue

According to officials, 138 aftershocks have been recorded since the twin 7.2- and 7.5-magnitude earthquakes struck late Wednesday, causing widespread destruction.

Published

on

The death toll from the powerful earthquakes that struck Venezuela’s northern Caribbean coast has risen to 188, authorities confirmed on Thursday, as emergency crews continue search and rescue operations.

Jorge Rodriguez, President of Venezuela’s National Assembly, said 1,520 people have been hospitalized with injuries, while 157 people remain missing. Rescue teams are still searching for more than 200 people believed to be trapped beneath collapsed buildings.

According to officials, 138 aftershocks have been recorded since the twin 7.2- and 7.5-magnitude earthquakes struck late Wednesday, causing widespread destruction.

Rodriguez said 346 infrastructure sites sustained damage, including 250 buildings, 20 shopping centers, and eight hospitals, forcing authorities to transfer patients to other medical facilities.

The Venezuelan government has announced the establishment of a $200 million emergency reconstruction fund to support the rebuilding of damaged homes, hospitals, and other critical infrastructure.

Following the disaster, Acting President Delcy Rodriguez declared a national state of emergency, while tsunami warnings were issued across parts of the Caribbean region after the powerful earthquakes.

Continue Reading
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

Trending

Copyright © 2025 Ariana News. All rights reserved!


Warning: Undefined array key "slug" in /var/www/vhosts/ariananews.af/httpdocs/wp-includes/class-wp-theme-json.php on line 2117

Warning: Undefined array key "slug" in /var/www/vhosts/ariananews.af/httpdocs/wp-includes/class-wp-theme-json.php on line 2117

Warning: Undefined array key "slug" in /var/www/vhosts/ariananews.af/httpdocs/wp-includes/class-wp-theme-json.php on line 2117