Fierce fighting continues on contact line in Karabakh

The situation on the contact line between Armenian and Azerbaijani armed forces remains tense but is under control of the Armenian side, the press service of the Armenian Ministry of Defense reported on Sunday.

"Armenian and Karabakh forces continue response in order to prevent further escalation of military actions," a spokesman for the republic's Defense Ministry Artsrun Hovannisian wrote on his page on Facebook.

He added that the fierce fightings still continued in some areas of the frontline, because the Azerbaijani side has grouped a large force.

The most tense situation remains in the northern and southern parts of the frontline between Karabakh and Azerbaijan armed forces.

Armenia's Defense Ministry has spread a statement on Saturday, stating that in the night of April 1-2, the Azerbaijani troops launched the offensive attacks on the southern, south-eastern and north-eastern areas of the Karabakh-Azerbaijani line of contact with artillery, armored vehicles and aircraft.

According to reports from the Republic of Nagorno Karabakh Ministry of Defense, two helicopters, 15 tanks and 3 unmanned aerial enemy unit, one rocket system "Grad", 5 units of armored vehicles, including 1 infantry fighting vehicle, 1 unit of engineering machinery of Azerbaijan were destroyed, with casualties amounting to 200 people.

While a total of 18 Armenian soldiers have been killed, 35 others wounded. Armenia also lost one tank.

The Armenian Defense Ministry also reported that in the early morning Sunday, the Azerbaijani side has resumed shelling of the Armenian-Karabakh positions in the south with the use of rocket and artillery tools and armored vehicles.

Hostilities between Armenia and Azerbaijan on the contact line of the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region have reportedly flared up overnight Saturday with the two countries' defense ministries blaming each other for triggering the escalation.

The Azerbaijani Defense Ministry said 12 Azerbaijani soldiers have been killed in the fighting while the Armenian side confirmed that 18 soldiers died in the conflict.

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

Peace talks have been held since 1994 when a ceasefire was reached, but there have been occasional minor clashes in the past along the borders and across the volatile frontline of the Karabakh area. The clashes obviously escalated last month.

Source: XINHUA