Deadly clash erupts between Armenia and Azerbaijan in separatist Nagorno-Karabakh region

Fighting between Armenia and Azerbaijan has broken out around the separatist region of Nagorno-Karabakh, with both sides reporting fatalities.

Armenia said a woman and a child were killed in the area by shelling from Azerbaijani forces.

Baku said an unspecified number of Azerbaijani civilians had been killed and six wounded.

Armenia declared martial law and mobilised its male population after clashes with Azerbaijan over the breakaway region.

Nagorno-Karabakh is a mainly ethnic Armenian region inside Azerbaijan which declared independence in 1991.

Authorities in Nagorno-Karabakh also announced martial law and mobilised the male population. They said 10 of its military staff had been killed.

Both sides blamed each other for the clashes — Armenia said Azerbaijan had carried out an air and artillery attack on Nagorno-Karabakh, but Azerbaijan said it had responded to Armenian shelling.
Military tanks, drones and helicopters destroyed

The defence ministry in the Nagorno-Karabakh region said it had destroyed four of Azerbaijan's helicopters, 15 drones and 10 tanks during clashes.

Armenia's defence ministry said its troops had destroyed three tanks and shot down two helicopters and three unmanned aerial vehicles in response to an attack on civilian targets including Nagorno-Karabakh's capital, Stepanakert.

"Our response will be proportionate, and the military-political leadership of Azerbaijan bears full responsibility for the situation," the ministry said in a statement.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan wrote on Twitter: "We stay strong next to our army to protect our motherland from Azeri invasion."

Azerbaijan denied the Armenian defence ministry statement, saying it had "complete advantage over the enemy on the front", and accused Armenian forces of launching "deliberate and targeted" attacks along the front line.

"We defend our territory, our cause is right!" Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said in an address to the nation.

At least 200 people were killed in a flare-up of the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan in April 2016.

There are frequent skirmishes and at least 16 were reportedly killed in clashes in July.