Armenia says clashes continue along borders with Azerbaijan

Clashes on the Armenia-Azerbaijan border continued into Tuesday, said the Armenian Defense Ministry.

Azerbaijani armed forces started shelling Armenian targets in certain villages on the border, and that Armenian troops returned fire, said Defense Ministry spokesman Artsrun Hovannisian.

"Clashes on the border of Armenia and Azerbaijan recorded last night and early in the morning," he wrote on Facebook.

Deadly clashes have continued since hostilities between Armenia and Azerbaijan on the contact line of the Nagorno-Karabakh region flared up overnight Saturday, with the two countries blaming each other for triggering the escalation.

Armenia and Azerbaijan have been locked in a bitter dispute over the mountainous region of Nagorno-Karabakh. The conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh first broke out in 1988, when the enclave dominated by ethnic Armenians claimed independence from Azerbaijan and declared to join Armenia.

Peace talks have been held since 1994 when a cease-fire was reached, but there have been occasional minor clashes.

Source: XINHUA