Fighting in Nagorno-Karabakh resumed: Azerbaijani Defense Ministry

BAKU -- The Azerbaijani Defense Ministry said in a statement on Sunday that military operations in some places along the contact line in Nagorno-Karabakh region have resumed.

The ministry said since Armenian armed forces have broken the ceasefire with Azerbaijan on the frontline in Fuzuli, Terter and Aghdam districts, the counter-attack by the Azerbaijan side was carried out.

It also said that Azerbaijani troops had shot down an Armenian drone near Azerbaijan's Fizuli district.

Th ministry on Sunday declared to unilaterally suspend all military operations and response measures in the high-strung disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region with Armenia. However, the Nagorno-Karabakh defense authorities said that heavy battles were still going on in the northeastern and southeastern directions, denying that the Azerbaijani side had implemented a real ceasefire along the contact line in the Nagorno-Karabakh region.

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.