Fighting between Armenia and Azerbaijan resumes over contested region

Ethnic Armenian officials in Nagorno-Karabakh said on Monday that 21 more servicemen had been killed in the fierce fighting

Men look at the damage in a residential area after shelling by Azerbaijan's artillery during a military conflict in self-proclaimed Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh, Stepanakert, Azerbaijan. AP

The fighting between Armenian and Azerbaijani forces over the separatist territory of Nagorno-Karabakh resumed on Monday morning, with both sides accusing each other of launching attacks.

Armenian military officials on Monday reported missile strikes hitting Stepanakert, the capital of Nagorno-Karabakh. The region lies in Azerbaijan but has been under the control of ethnic Armenian forces backed by Armenia since the end of a separatist war in 1994.

Firefights “of various intensity … continue to rage” in the conflict zone, Armenian Defence Ministry spokeswoman Shushan Stepanian said on Facebook.

The Azerbaijani Defence Ministry, in turn, accused Armenian forces of shelling the towns of Tartar, Barda and Beylagan. Ganja, Azerbaijan’s second largest city far outside of the conflict zone, is also “under fire,” officials said.

The International Committee of the Red Cross on Sunday condemned the reports of "indiscriminate shelling and other alleged unlawful attacks using explosive weaponry in cities, towns and other populated areas".

Civilians huddled on Sunday in the basement of Stepanakert's stonewalled Holy Mother of God cathedral, seeking refuge as explosions and air raid warnings sounded.

Some residents were fleeing the city for Armenian territory, with many gathering in the border town of Goris hoping to find passage on to the capital Yerevan.

Ethnic Armenian officials in Nagorno-Karabakh said on Monday that 21 more servicemen had been killed in the fighting with Azerbaijan, bringing its total military death toll to 223 since war broke out eight days ago.

The breakaway region came under Azeri bombardment again on Monday and an official there said the civilian death toll since the start of the fighting had risen to 18.

Azerbaijan does not disclose its military losses but says it has lost 25 civilians. Two civilians have been killed on Armenian territory.

The fighting began on September 27 and has surged to its worst level since the 1990s, when some 30,000 people were killed.