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Heavy fighting erupts over separatist Nagorno-Karabakh Azerbaijan says 12 of its soldiers killed in fighting
(35 minutes later)
YEREVAN, Armenia — Heavy fighting has broken out between Armenian and Azerbaijani forces along the front lines of the separatist Nagorno-Karabakh region, reportedly killing at least one child in what one official called the worst clashes since 1994. YEREVAN, Armenia — Azerbaijan says 12 of its soldiers have been killed in fighting Saturday with Armenian forces over the separatist Nagorno-Karabakh region.
Officials from each former Soviet republic blamed the other Saturday for the fighting that began overnight. Both Armenia and Azerbaijan said they had inflicted heavy losses on the other. A Defense Ministry statement on Saturday also claimed that more than 100 Armenian forces had been killed or wounded. The ministry said one Azerbaijani helicopter was shot down and claimed to have destroyed six Armenian tanks and 15 artillery positions.
Nagorno-Karabakh, a region in Azerbaijan, has been under the control of local ethnic Armenian forces and the Armenian military since 1994.
David Babayan, a spokesman for Nagorno-Karabakh’s separatist president, said a boy of about 12 was killed and two other children wounded in a Grad missile barrage by Azerbaijani forces. He characterized the fighting as the worst since 1994, when a war over the territory ended.
Russian President Vladimir Putin urged all sides to cease firing and “show restraint,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was quoted as saying by Russian news agencies. Russia’s foreign and defense ministers contacted their Azerbaijani and Armenian counterparts in hopes of stabilizing the situation, the ministries said.
“The situation along the entire length of the line of opposition between Karabakhi and Azerbaijani armed forces continues to be extremely difficult,” Armenian defense ministry spokesman Artsrun Hovhannisyan told The Associated Press.
Years of negotiations under the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe have brought little progress in resolving the territorial dispute.
Armenian forces also occupy several areas outside Nagorno-Karabakh. The sides are separated by a demilitarized buffer zone, but both claim frequent violations by the other.
The Armenian Defense Ministry said Azerbaijan used aircraft, tanks and artillery to try to make inroads into Nagorno-Karabkh and that “Azerbaijani authorities bear all responsibility for the unprecedentedly supercharged situation.”
The Azerbaijani Defense Ministry said the fighting began when Armenian forces fired mortars and large-caliber artillery shells across the front line. Ministry spokesman Vagif Dargyakhly told The Associated Press that more than 120 shots were fired, some of which hit civilian residential areas.
Dargyakhly also denied a claim by Armenian military spokesman Hovhannisyan that an Azerbaijani helicopter was downed in the fighting.
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Associated Press writers Aida Sultanova in Baku, Azerbaijan, and Jim Heintz in Moscow contributed to this story.
Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.