BAKU/YEREVAN, Sept. 28 (Xinhua) -- Clashes between Armenian and Azerbaijani forces over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region entered a second day on Monday, with both countries trading accusation over which side escalated the conflict and shelled civilians.
According to the Nagorno-Karabakh defense authorities, the Armenian side has lost 31 soldiers, while at least 100 others have been wounded since the fighting began.
The other side, Azerbaijan, had reported a family of five died in the shellings.
Information from both side have indicated that the bloody fighting has resumed along the contact line of Nagorno-Karabakh over the weekend.
"Early in the morning, Azerbaijan resumed its offensive operations, using artillery, armored vehicles, including the heavy artillery system," a spokesperson for the Defense Ministry of Armenia said on Monday.
Meanwhile, the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry claimed that Azerbaijan's Tartar city was being intensively fired by the Armenian side from the early hours of Monday.
In response to the escalation of clashes along the contact line, Armenia on Sunday declared martial law and general mobilization, after which Azerbaijan also declared a state of war and martial law across the country.
"We are on the brink of a full-scale war in the South Caucasus, which might have unpredictable consequences," warned Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan in a televised address on Sunday.
"We defend our territory, our cause is right," Azerbaijan's president, Ilham Aliyev, said in an address to the nation on the same day.
Avtandil Otinashvili, a famous journalist working for the Georgian Newsday website, commented that both sides are preparing for the escalation of the conflict which is seemingly on the way to a large-scale war.
The flare-up has raised international concern for the two Caucasus countries which have been loggerheaded over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region for decades.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged the two sides to immediately stop fighting, de-escalate tensions and return to negotiations.
Major regional player Russia called for an immediate ceasefire.
"We are calling on the sides to immediately halt fire and begin talks to stabilize the situation," the Russian Foreign Ministry said Sunday.
The European Union as well as the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe also urged the two countries to negotiate at once.
The two former Soviet republics have been at loggerheads over the mountainous region of Nagorno-Karabakh since 1988. Peace talks have been held since 1994 when a ceasefire was reached, but there have been occasional minor clashes along the border. Enditem
