18 killed in renewed Armenia-azerbaijan fighting

YEREVAN, Armenia — Fighting erupted anew Sunday between Armenian and Azerbaijani forces over the disputed separatist region of Nagorno-karabakh and the territory’s defense ministry said 16 soldiers and two civilians have been killed and more than 100 others wounded.

Armenia also claimed two Azerbaijani helicopters were shot down and three Azerbaijani tanks were hit by artillery, but Azerbaijan’s defense ministry rejected that claim.

Heavy fighting broke out in the morning in the region that lies within Azerbaijan but has been under the control of ethnic Armenian forces backed by Armenia since 1994 at the end of a separatist war. It was not immediately clear what sparked the fighting, the heaviest since clashes in July killed 16 people from both sides.

Nagorno-karabakh authorities reported that shelling hit the region’s capital of Stepanakert and the towns of Martakert and Martuni. Armenian Defense Ministry spokesman Artsrun Hovhannisyan also said Azerbaijani shelling hit within Armenian territory near the town of Vardenis.

Artur Sarkisian, deputy head of the Nagorno-karabakh army, said that 16 people were killed and more than 100 wounded. Earlier, the Armenian human rights ombudsman said a woman and child had been killed in the shelling.

Another Armenian Defense Ministry spokeswoman, Shushan Stepanyan, said “the Armenian side” shot down two helicopters and hit three tanks.

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev ordered martial law be imposed in some regions of the country and called for a curfew in major cities.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian on Sunday said the country could reexamine whether to recognize Nagorno-karabakh as independent.