Mardakert skirmishes

Armenia sought help from the Russian Federation because of border fighting with Azerbaijan that flared up last night and received a promise of such help.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has cautioned the warring parties in the Nagorno-Karabakh region about taking steps that could derail the region's peace process, his spokesman said Feb. 27.

Turkey's Foreign Ministry has condemned Armenia for committing "heavy weapon attacks" against Azerbaijan early on Feb. 25 in an attack that killed five Azerbaijani soldiers, according to the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry.

The ministry issued a late on Feb. 26, offering condolences to the fallen Azerbaijani soldiers' families and the people of Azerbaijan.      

Azerbaijan and ethnic Armenian separatists have continued to exchange fire in the area of the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region, with the Azeri army threatening to shell its capital, Stepanakert.

Zakir Hasanov, the country's Defense Minister on Tuesday warned Azerbaijan's military would target Stepanakert unless the separatists stop with what Baku calls "aggression".

Bulgaria has expressed deep concern about "massive violations of the ceasefire" in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh and called on Armenia and Azerbaijan to renew their efforts to find a peaceful solution to the conflict.

Azerbaijan's defence ministry announced on Sunday it was callig a unilateral ceasefire in Nagorno-Karabakh as fighting in the disputed region entered its second day.

Azerbaijan took the decision after international calls to end the fighting, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty informs.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has called for an end to the fierce fighting renewed between Armenia and Azerbaijan in the region of Nagorno-Karabakh, where a conflict is threatening to resurface after having remained frozen since 199s4.

Both Armenia and Azerbaijan maintain the other side began the fighting, with conflicting reports about details and casualties.

Armenian forces on killed on April 16 an Azerbaijani soldier in the latest breach of a ceasefire between the arch-foes locked in a simmering conflict over the disputed Nagorny Karabakh region, officials in Baku said.

An Azerbaijani soldier was killed in border clashes with Armenian forces, according to a statement from the Azerbaijani Ministry of Defense on Feb. 21.

The clashes erupted on early Feb. 21 between Armenian and Azerbaijani soldiers when an Armenian reconnaissance unit tried to cross the front line into southern Azerbaijan, the statement said.

The Azerbaijani army has reportedly killed 47 Armenian soldiers in recent clashes, as President Ilham Aliyev visited a frontline zone near the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region.