YEREVAN, September 30. /TASS/. Artillery engagement continues along the entire frontline in Nagorno-Karabakh, Armenian Defense Ministry’s press secretary Shushan Stepanyan said in a Facebook post on Wednesday.
"Artillery engagement continues along the entire frontline in Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) at present. Air defense units of Artsakh shot down two enemy drones above Stepanakert," she said.
In turn, the Defense Ministry of Azerbaijan said on Wednesday that Armenian armed forces had been shelling the Azerbaijani city of Terter not far from the line of contact in Nagorno-Karabakh.
"Since 8:00 (local time, 7:00 Moscow time), units of the Armenian armed forces have been conducting artillery fire targeting the city of Terter," the statement says.
According to initial information, injuries and damage to civilian infrastructure have been reported in the city, the ministry said.
The situation in Nagorno-Karabakh escalated on September 27, when Azerbaijan said its positions had come under extensive fire from Armenia. Armenia, in turn, said the Azerbaijani army had staged an offensive in the direction of Nagorno-Karabakh. It said a number of settlements in Nagorno-Karabakh, including its administrative center Stepanakert, had come under shelling by Azerbaijan. Both sides report casualties, including among civilians. Both Armenia and Azerbaijan have imposed martial law and announced mobilization.
The conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the highland region of Nagorno-Karabakh, a disputed territory that had been part of Azerbaijan before the Soviet Union break-up, but primarily populated by ethnic Armenians, broke out in February 1988 after the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region announced its withdrawal from the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic. In 1992-1994, tensions boiled over and exploded into large-scale military action for control over the enclave and seven adjacent territories after Azerbaijan lost control of them. Talks on the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement have been ongoing since 1992 under the OSCE Minsk Group, led by its three co-chairs - Russia, France and the United States.