A week after negotiating the cease-fire along the line of contact around Nagorno-Karabakh, the relative calm seems to hold despite sporadic shooting reported by both warring parties.

The army of Karabakh Defense said yesterday that Azerbaijani forces fired overnight more than two dozen mortar shells and grenades.

The statement said the Karabakh Armenian forces returned fire only when it is an “if necessary.” “The situation is calm for now,” concluded the statement issued in the morning.

The Defense Ministry of Azerbaijan, for its part, said it had recorded 100 violations of the ceasefire by Armenia in the past 24 hours.

“Compared to what happened between 2 and 5 April, we can say that the situation has been relatively stable over the past few days,” said Davit Babayan, a senior Karabakh. “It is true that the enemy bombed our positions in some sections, but overall, we can say that there is a relative calm on the frontline.”

The fighting, which left at least 100 dead on both sides, halted on April 5 after a cease-fire signed by the intermediary of Russia.

The French, US and Russian mediators have urged the parties to respect the truce. They also called for the resumption of the Armenian-Azerbaijani negotiations to reach a political resolution of the Karabakh conflict. They must conduct live talks between the two parties.

Parliament Speaker Karabakh Ashot Ghulian, said yesterday that Baku will fail to get “unilateral” concessions from the Armenian side in the wake of the Azerbaijani offensive launched on 2 April.

“Azerbaijan attacks have the opposite effect,” commented Ghulian. “It was inevitable.”