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Armenia says situation in Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone remains tense

According to Armenian Defense Ministry Press Secretary Shushan Stepanyan, late on Saturday Azerbaijan’s Armed Forces shelled from artillery weapons the settlements in the Martuninsky and Askeransky districts in Nagorno-Karabakh

YEREVAN, October 25. /TASS/. Fighting continues in the conflict zone in the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, Armenian Defense Ministry Press Secretary Shushan Stepanyan wrote on her Telegram channel on Sunday.

"At night the situation in the area of the standoff between Artsakh [the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic] and Azerbaijan remained stably tense. In some areas artillery battles continued," Stepanyan said.

According to her, late on Saturday Azerbaijan’s Armed Forces shelled from artillery weapons the settlements in the Martuninsky and Askeransky districts in Nagorno-Karabakh.

"Currently, battles of a local scale are underway in all directions of the frontline," Stepanyan said. The Artsakh Defense Army’s units continue operations against sabotage and reconnaissance groups of Azerbaijan’s Armed Forces, she added.

Renewed clashes between Azerbaijan and Armenia erupted on September 27, with intense battles raging in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh. Fighting continues in the region despite two declared ceasefire agreements. The area experienced flare-ups of violence in the summer of 2014, in April 2016 and this past July.

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.