The cease-fire agreement did not stop the war, the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh is not abating

The conflict between the Armenian and Azerbaijani armies over the Nagorno-Karabakh region continues even today.

The cease-fire agreement brokered by the United States of America, which entered into force only two days ago, has not stopped the war, which is the latest phase of the decades-long conflict. Nagorno-Karabakh officials said today that Azerbaijani forces used Smerch multi-barrel rocket launchers, a devastating Soviet-made weapon, targeting Stepanakert, the capital of the region, and nearby Shushi, where one civilian was killed and two were wounded.

The Armenian government information center announced that Azerbaijani forces targeted the maternity hospital in Stepanakert.

The Azerbaijani Ministry of Defense rejected those claims and accused Armenian forces of using "Smerch" against the Azerbaijani cities of Terter and Bard, where more than 20 people were killed and 60 wounded. The spokeswoman of the Armenian Ministry of Defense, Shushan Stepanyan, responded that these accusations baseless and false".

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev promised an "adequate response" to the attack on Twitter.

Nagorno-Karabakh is formally part of Azerbaijan, but since 1994 Baku has had no control over the majority-Armenian region, whose separatist government is backed by Yerevan. The latest war, which began on September 27, is the most difficult conflict since the end of the previous year in 1994.

According to Nagorno-Karabakh officials, 1.068 of their soldiers and 39 civilians were killed this fall, and 122 civilians were wounded. Azerbaijani authorities have not disclosed their military losses, but say that 69 civilians were killed and 322 wounded in the clashes.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said last week that Moscow had information that about 5.000 people had died in the conflict.

Russia, the United States and France co-chair the so-called "Minsk Group" set up by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe to mediate the conflict, but their attempts to negotiate a political solution have stalled.

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has repeatedly criticized that group because it has not achieved any results in 28 years and pointed out that Azerbaijan has the right to regain its territory by force, since international mediation has failed.