Azeri-Armenian clashes: Nagorno-Karabakh Army seizes 11 Azerbaijani armoured vehicles

The armed forces of self-declared Republic of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) have seized an Azerbaijani BMP-3 tank and 10 other armoured vehicles with military hardware, Armenian Defense Ministry spokeswoman Shushan Stepanyan said on Sunday.

The armed forces of self-declared Republic of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) have seized an Azerbaij BMP-3 tank and 10 other armoured vehicles with military hardware, Armenian Defense Ministry spokeswoman Shushan Stepanyan said on Sunday.

"In the result of the counterattack of the [Nagorno-Karabakh] Defense Army units, 11 pieces of the enemy armoured vehicles with their combat equipment were seized, including a BMP-3," Stepanyan said on Facebook.

The disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding districts are de facto controlled by the self-declared Republic of Artsakh, but are internationally recognised as de jure part of Azerbaijan.

On Sunday morning, an escalation unfolded along the contact line of Nagorno-Karabakh, an Armenian-majority autonomy that proclaimed independence from what then was the Soviet Azerbaijan Republic in 1991.

Azerbaijan launched what it described as a "counteroffensive," while the Artsakh authorities accused Azerbaij forces of opening fire against civilians and civilian infrastructure in its capital of Stepanakert.

The armed hostilities continue at this point.

Numerous countries and international orgsations, including the United Nations, have called on the conflict parties to immediately ceasefire and return to an OSCE-facilitated dialogue without preconditions. (/Sputnik)

( With inputs from ANI )