Fighting flares again in a breakaway region in the Caucasus Mountains

By AVET DEMOURIAN
Associated Press

YEREVAN, Armenia (AP) — Azerbaijan’s forces fired artillery at Armenian positions in the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh. Ethnic Armenian officials reported heavy shelling around the regional capital of Stepanakert. Local officials reported that scores of people — both civilians and troops — were killed and wounded in the fighting. Azerbaijan’s Defense Ministry says the operation began Tuesday after four soldiers and two civilians died in land mine explosions in Nagorno-Karabakh. The reports raised concerns that a full-scale war in the region could resume between Azerbaijan and Armenia, which have battled over the mountainous territory for more than three decades. The most recent heavy fighting there occurred for six weeks in 2020.