YEREVAN, Armenia: The fighting between Armenian and Azerbaijani forces over the separatist territory of Nagorno-Karabakh resumed Monday morning, with both sides accusing each other of launching attacks.
Armenian military officials on Monday reported missile strikes hitting Stepanakert, the capital of Nagorno-Karabakh. The region lies in Azerbaijan but has been under the control of ethnic Armenian forces backed by Armenia since the end of a separatist war in 1994.
Firefights of varying intensity “continue to rage” in the conflict zone, Armenian Defense Ministry spokeswoman Shushan Stepanian said on Facebook.
The Azerbaijani Defense Ministry, in turn, accused Armenian forces of shelling the towns of Tartar, Barda and Beylagan. Ganja, Azerbaijan’s second-largest city far outside of the conflict zone, is also “under fire,” officials said.
Armenia’s Foreign Ministry in a statement dismissed allegations of the attacks being launched from the Armenia’s territory as a “disinformation campaign” waged by Azerbaijan.
Vahram Poghosyan, spokesman for Nagorno-Karabakh’s leader, on Monday warned in a Facebook post that the territory’s forces would target military facilities in Azerbaijani cities in response to strikes on Stepanakert and Shushi, a town in Nagorno-Karabakh.
The fighting erupted Sept. 27 and has killed dozens, marking the biggest escalation in the decades-old conflict over the region. Both sides have accused each other of expanding the hostilities beyond the conflict zone in Nagorno-Karabakh.
Nagorno-Karabakh officials have said nearly 200 servicemen on their side have died in the clashes so far. Eighteen civilians have been killed and more than 90 others wounded. Azerbaijani authorities haven’t given details about their military casualties, but said 24 civilians were killed and 121 others were wounded.
Nagorno-Karabakh was a designated autonomous region within Azerbaijan during the Soviet era. It claimed independence from Azerbaijan in 1991, about three months before the Soviet Union’s collapse. A full-scale war that broke out in 1992 killed an estimated 30,000 people.
By the time the war ended in 1994, Armenian forces not only held Nagorno-Karabakh itself but substantial areas outside the territory’s formal borders.
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has repeatedly said that Armenia’s withdrawal from Nagorno-Karabakh is the sole condition to end the fighting.
Armenian officials allege that Turkey is involved in the conflict on the side of Azerbaijan and is sending fighters from Syria to the region. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian said that “a cease-fire can be established only if Turkey is removed from the South Caucasus.”
Turkey’s government has denied sending arms or foreign fighters, while publicly siding with Azerbaijan in the dispute.
Armenia, Azerbaijan clashes resume over separatist region
https://arab.news/zp5kc
Armenia, Azerbaijan clashes resume over separatist region
- Armenian military officials on Monday reported missile strikes hitting Stepanakert, the capital of Nagorno-Karabakh
- The region lies in Azerbaijan but has been under the control of ethnic Armenian forces backed by Armenia since the end of a separatist war in 1994
About 400 immigrant children were detained longer than the recommended limit, ICE admits
- A Dec. 1 report from ICE indicated that about 400 immigrant children were held in custody for more than the 20-day limit during the reporting period from August to September
- Advocates documented injuries suffered by children and a lack of access to sufficient medical care
TEXAS, USA: Hundreds of immigrant children across the nation were detained for longer than the legal limit this summer, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement has admitted in a court filing, alarming legal advocates who say the government is failing to safeguard children.
In a court filing Monday evening, attorneys for detainees highlighted the government’s own admissions to longer custody times for immigrant children, unsanitary conditions reported by families and monitors at federal facilities, and a renewed reliance on hotels for detention.
The reports were filed as part of an ongoing civil lawsuit launched in 1985 that led to the creation of the 1990s cornerstone policy known as the Flores Settlement Agreement, which limits the time children can spend in federal custody and requires them to be kept in safe and sanitary conditions. The Trump administration is attempting to end the agreement.
A Dec. 1 report from ICE indicated that about 400 immigrant children were held in custody for more than the 20-day limit during the reporting period from August to September. They also told the court the problem was widespread and not specific to a region or facility. The primary factors that prolonged their release were categorized into three groups: transportation delays, medical needs, and legal processing.
Legal advocates for the children contended those reasons do not prove lawful justifications for the delays in their release. They also cited examples that far exceeded the 20-day limit, including five children who were held for 168 days earlier this year.
ICE did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday.
Hotel use for temporary detention is allowed by the federal court for up to 72 hours, but attorneys questioned the government’s data, which they believe did not fully explain why children were held longer than three days in hotel rooms.
Conditions at the detention facilities continued to be an ongoing concern since the family detention site in Dilley, Texas, reopened this year.
Advocates documented injuries suffered by children and a lack of access to sufficient medical care. One child bleeding from an eye injury wasn’t seen by medical staff for two days. Another child’s foot was broken when a member of the staff dropped a volleyball net pole, according to the court filing. “Medical staff told one family whose child got food poisoning to only return if the child vomited eight times,” the advocates wrote in their response.
“Children get diarrhea, heartburn, stomach aches, and they give them food that literally has worms in it,” one person with a family staying at the facility in Dilley wrote in a declaration submitted to the court.
Chief US District Judge Dolly Gee of the Central District of California is scheduled to have a hearing on the reports next week, where she could decide if the court needs to intervene.
