YEREVAN/BAKU: Fierce clashes left at least 30 Azerbaijani
and Armenian soldiers dead on Saturday (Apr 2) as Russia and the West
urged an immediate ceasefire after a major escalation in violence over
the disputed Nagorny Karabakh region.
Armenian President Serzh Sarkisian said 18 Armenian troops
were killed and some 35 wounded in the "largest-scale hostilities" since
a 1994 truce ended a war in which Armenian-backed fighters seized the
territory from Azerbaijan.
Sarkisian did not specify if the troops were from the forces
of unrecognised Karabakh - which claims independence but is backed by
Yerevan - or Armenia's army. Earlier Azerbaijan's defence ministry said
that 12 of its soldiers were killed in the clashes and a military
helicopter shot down.
The surge in fighting over the disputed territory reportedly
also claimed the lives of one Armenian and one Azeri civilian after the
arch foes accused each other of unleashing heavy weaponry across the
volatile frontline.
Armenia accused Azerbaijan of launching a "massive attack
along the Karabakh frontline using tanks, artillery, and helicopters" on
Friday night. Azerbaijan, however, insisted it had counter-attacked
after coming under fire from "large-calibre artillery and
grenade-launchers".
Azerbaijan defence ministry spokesman Vagif Dargahli said that firing
had stopped by Saturday evening but warned that the situation remained
highly volatile.
Ethnic Armenian separatists backed by Yerevan seized control
of the mountainous Nagorny Karabakh region in the early 1990s war that
claimed some 30,000 lives and the foes have never signed a peace deal
despite the 1994 ceasefire.
The region is still internationally recognised as part of
Azerbaijan and the two sides frequently exchange fire across the front,
but the latest episode marked a surge in violence and sparked frantic
appeals for peace from international powers.
Azeri forces claimed that they had taken control of several
strategic heights and a village in the Armenian-controlled territory,
but Yerevan denied the claim as "disinformation".
CEASEFIRE CALLS
Russian President Vladimir Putin called for an immediate end to fighting along the frontline, the Kremlin said.
"President Putin calls on the parties in the conflict to
observe an immediate ceasefire and exercise restraint in order to
prevent further casualties," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told
Russian news agencies.
Moscow has supplied weaponry to both sides in the conflict, but has
much closer military and economic ties to Armenia and Yerevan is reliant
on Russia's backing.
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu
held phone talks with their counterparts in Armenia and Azerbaijan to
urge a de-escalation in the fighting.
Meanwhile, mediators from a group made up of representatives
from Russia, the United States, France and the Organisation for
Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), which has been trying to
negotiation a settlement, expressed "grave concern".
The European Union's foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini
said that the reports of heavy fighting were "deeply worrying" and
called on all sides to "avoid any further actions or statements that
could result in escalation".
Azerbaijan's strongman President Ilham Aliyev also spoke by
phone to ally Tukrish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who expressed
"solidarity" with Azerbaijan, Aliyev's press office said.
Energy-rich Azerbaijan, whose military spending has in the
past exceeded Armenia's entire state budget, has repeatedly threatened
to take back the breakaway region by force if negotiations fail to yield
results. Moscow-backed Armenia says it could crush any offensive.
The last big flare-up occurred in November 2014 when Azerbaijan shot down an Armenian military helicopter.
US Vice President Joe Biden met this week separately with
both Aliyev and Sarkisian, as they attended a nuclear summit in
Washington. He urged a peaceful settlement to the dispute.
Biden "expressed concern about continued violence, called
for dialogue, and emphasized the importance of a comprehensive
settlement for the long-term stability, security, and prosperity of the
region", the White House said.
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