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Armenia–Azerbaijan conflict

Baku says fighting in Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone continues

Renewed clashes between Azerbaijan and Armenia erupted on September 27

BAKU, October 22. /TASS/. Hostilities in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone continue, Azerbaijan’s Defense Ministry reported on Thursday.

"The hostilities currently continue along the entire frontline," the ministry said in a statement posted on its website.

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According to the Defense Ministry, the fighting continued with varying degrees of intensity during the past day and on Wednesday night into Thursday morning in the Agdere-Agdam, the Fizuli-Jabrail and Zangilan-Qubadli directions. "The enemy shelled the Azerbaijani army’s defense positions with small arms, mortars and cannons," the report said.

It also stated that, as a result of the Azerbaijani armed forces’ operation in the Qubadli area, "the defending units of the Armenian armed forces had to retreat from some important heights and a number of positions sustaining heavy losses in manpower and military equipment."

"Azerbaijani troops control the operational situation," the Defense Ministry noted.

Renewed clashes between Azerbaijan and Armenia erupted on September 27, with intense battles raging in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh. The area experienced flare-ups of violence in the summer of 2014, in April 2016 and this past July. Azerbaijan and Armenia have imposed martial law and launched mobilization efforts. Both parties to the conflict have reported casualties, among them civilians.

Baku and Yerevan have disputed sovereignty over Nagorno-Karabakh since February 1988, when the region declared secession from the Azerbaijani Soviet Socialist Republic. In the armed conflict of 1992-1994 Azerbaijan lost control of Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjoining districts.

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