Nagorno-Karabakh battles rage for second day: Live news - Al Jazeera English

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Heavy fighting that erupted on Sunday between Azerbaijani and Armenian military forces over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region continued overnight and into Monday morning.
Military personnel and civilian deaths have been reported from both sides, in the worst escalation in violence since 2016.
Most of the international community, including the United States, Russia, Iran and European powers, have been calling for an end to hostilities and the start of talks.

Here are the latest updates on Monday, September 28:

11:25 GMT – Turkey says Armenia must send back foreign ‘mercenaries’

Turkey said Armenia must stop its occupation of Azerbaijan’s lands and send back the “mercenaries and terrorists” it brought from abroad for stability in the Nagorno-Karabakh region, where Armenian and Azeri forces have clashed.

“Armenia must immediately halt its attacks, send back the mercenaries and terrorists it brought from abroad and withdraw from the Azerbaijan lands,” said Turkish Defence Minister Hulusi Akar, adding a ceasefire and peace are needed.

10:45 GMT – Kremlin calls on Azerbaijan, Armenia to stop Karabakh fighting

The Kremlin urged Azerbaijan and Armenia to stop all military activity that could further inflame tensions over the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh and said the fighting was a cause for serious concern in Moscow.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow was following the situation very closely and that the conflict had to be resolved through diplomacy.

10:10 GMT – Iran calls for talks between Armenia and Azerbaijan

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said Iran’s policy of facilitating talks between Armenia and Azerbaijan and avoiding military conflict remains unchanged.

“We believe an immediate cease fire, abandoning hostilities and beginning bilateral talks is the only certain solution to this situation,” he said during his weekly press conference, adding, “the region cannot take more violence”.

Last night, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif had two separate phone calls with his counterparts in Armenia and Azerbaijan and invited them to hold talks within the framework of international rules.

Three rockets fired as part of the conflict have landed on Iranian soil so far, according to Ali Amiri Rad, governor of a small county close to the Azerbaijan border called Khoda Afarin. He said it was unclear who fired the rockets and there were no casualties or damages since the area they landed was not residential.

09:45 GMT – Armenia’s parliament accuses Azerbaijan of ‘full-scale military attack’ on Karabakh

Armenia’s parliament condemned what it said was a “full-scale military attack” by Azerbaijan on the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh and said Turkey’s involvement in the crisis could risk destabilising the region.

“The international community should take active steps to prevent not only aggression by Azerbaijan, but also Turkey’s ambitions to be involved in the … conflict which will lead to the region’s destabilisation,” parliament speaker Ararat Mirzoyan said.

09:15 GMT – Azerbaijan declares partial military mobilisation

Azerbaijan declared a partial military mobilisation following clashes with Armenian forces over the Nagorno-Karabakh region.

Azeri President Ilham Aliyev signed a decree on mobilisation on the second day of clashes which the two sides, which fought a war over Nagorno-Karabakh in the 1990s, blame on each other and in which both have reported fatalities.

08:45 GMT – Azerbaijan denies Turkey sent it fighters from Syria amid Karabakh fighting

An aide to Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev denied that Turkey had sent fighters from Syria to Azerbaijan amid fighting over the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh.

Armenia’s ambassador to Russia said earlier that Turkey had sent around 4,000 fighters from northern Syria to Azerbaijan and that they were taking part in the fighting, the Interfax and RIA news agencies reported.

“Rumours of militants from Syria allegedly being redeployed to Azerbaijan is another provocation by the Armenian side and complete nonsense,” said the aide, Khikmet Gadzhiev.

08:25 GMT – Armenian envoy: Turkey sent 4,000 Syrian fighters to Azerbaijan amid fighting

Armenia’s ambassador to Russia said that Turkey had sent around 4,000 fighters from northern Syria to Azerbaijan amid fighting over the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh, the Interfax news agency reported.

The ambassador said the fighters were taking part in fighting in Nagorno-Karabakh, a region inside Azerbaijan that is run by ethnic Armenians, the RIA news agency reported.

Turkey is a close ally of Azerbaijan.

07:55 GMT -Azerbaijan says six civilians killed

Azerbaijan’s foreign ministry said a total of six Azerbaijani civilians have been killed and 19 wounded since the fighting began.

Heavy fighting has continued overnight between Armenian and Azerbaijani forces over the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh.

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— Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) September 28, 2020

07:46 GMT – Heavy weaponry used as fighting intensifies

Al Jazeera’s Robin Forestier-Walker, who has extensively covered developments in the region, said battles along the so-called “line of contact” – the de facto border between Nagorno-Karabakh and Azerbaijan – continued into the morning.

“That would involve artillery, rockets and we know that both sides have deployed drones,” he said from Tbilisi, Georgia. “Yesterday we saw startling footage released by Armenia of Azerbaijani tanks being destroyed, so we know a lot of serious heavy weaponry is in use.”

07:30 GMT – Biden: Russia should stop providing arms to sides

The US Democratic presidential nominee expressed deep concern over the outbreak of hostilities in Nagorno-Karabakh and called for urgent de-escalation, restoration of the ceasefire and a resumption of negotiations between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

In a statement, the former vice president urged the Trump administration to step up its diplomatic efforts to seek a peaceful resolution and to call on Russia “to stop cynically providing arms to both sides”.

06:50 GMT – Trump: US will seek to stop violence between Armenia, Azerbaijan

US President Donald Trump said Washington will seek to stop the fighting in the region.

“We’re looking at it very strongly,” Trump said in a press briefing. “We have a lot of good relationships in that area. We’ll see if we can stop it.”

06:30 GMT – Nagorno-Karabakh: 15 more troops killed in fighting with Azerbaijani forces

Officials in Nagorno-Karabakh said 15 more military personnel had been killed in the ongoing fighting, bringing the total to more than 30.

It came after Arayik Harutyunyan, leader of the breakaway region, said on Sunday that his forces had lost some positions to Azerbaijan’s army amid renewed clashes.