Bloody clashes erupted Saturday between Azerbaijani forces and Armenian separatists over the breakaway Nagorny Karabakh region, claiming the lives of several Azerbaijani servicemen, Baku and rebel officials said. The Nagorno-Karabakh Defense Ministry said in a statement, also released Saturday, that Armenian forces did not suffer any casualties and that Azerbaijani soldiers were killed when they launched an attack. Watch what else is making news:



“Fierce clashes erupted at the frontline’s Khojavend-Fizuli sector,” the ministry said in a statement, adding that Azerbaijani military “suffered losses in manpower as they courageously repelled the enemy’s attack.” “The enemy continues shelling Azerbaijani positions from heavy artillery,” it said. The ethnic Armenian military leadership in Nagorno-Karabakh said its troops “timely spotted and repulsed” attacks by Azerbaijani forces and that several Azerbaijani soldiers were killed in the fighting, while the Armenian side suffered no casualties. The former Soviet republics of Azerbaijan and Armenia have been locked in a lingering conflict over the disputed region and frequent exchanges of fire nearly spiraled into an all-out war last year.
Clashes erupt between Nagorno-Karabakh separatists and Azerbaijani forces in the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region. The Azerbaijan Ministry of Defense confirmed casualties on its side while the separatist forces claim to have no casualties. Both sides blame each other for the flareup in fighting.