But Armenia said Azerbaijan tried to capture territory in a tank assault with air support.
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Three days of clashes between Azerbaijan and Armenians have claimed some 46 lives so far. “The Ministry also said that the Armenian side has suffered big losses, but the exact numbers have not been given”, head of Sputnik agency in Azerbaijan, Aziz Aliev told RT.
Armenian President Serzh Sarksyan warned a group of foreign ambassadors today that the war could have “unpredictable and irreversible consequences, right up to a full-scale war”, cautioning that both Russian Federation and Turkey could quickly become involved.
Hikmet Hajiyev, a spokesman for Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry, said on Monday that Armenian forces continue to shell residential areas despite a unilateral cease-fire announced by Baku.
“Being a participant in the 1994 ceasefire agreement, the Republic of Armenia will continue to fully carry out its obligations in providing security for the population in Nagorny-Karabakh. And we’re actively engaging with both sides to urge them to strictly adhere to the ceasefire”.
The region’s chief, Mustagim Mammodov, said Tuesday that a 16-year-old girl was killed in shelling in the village of Hasangaya, south-west of Terter, a third civilian victim since the fighting broke out.
Nagorno-Karabakh has been under the control of local ethnic Armenian forces and the Armenian military since a war ended in 1994 with no resolution of the region’s status.
None of the claims could be independently verified.
As late as Tuesday morning, both Azerbaijan and the Armenian-backed separatists had been reporting fresh clashes.
Neighbors of Armenia and Azerbaijan to the north and south have issued more calls for the conflicting parties to deescalate the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh that has seen deadly fighting since April 2.
Worldwide efforts to settle the conflict, fueled by long-simmering tensions between Christian Armenians and mostly Muslim Azeris, have brought no results.
The flare-up “threatens the stability of the strategic Caucasus region which is a transit route of Caspian oil and gas to European markets that bypasses Russia, reducing Europe’s dependence on Russian energy supplies”, Sergi Kapanadze, a professor of global relations at the Tbilisi State University, told AFP.
“Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu condemned what he described as Armenian attacks in the Nagorno-Karabakh region and vowed Ankara would stand by Azerbaijan”.
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Despite its close ties with Armenia, Russia also has sold weapons to Azerbaijan in a deal that has angered many in Armenia.
