Fear of mass civilian casualties as Nagorno-Karabakh conflict escalates

Armenian and Azerbaijani forces have accused each other of shelling cities in a dangerous escalation of the eight-day war in the south Caucasus that it is feared could lead to mass civilian casualties.

Separatist forces in Nagorno-Karabakh – an ethnic Armenian enclave that broke away from Azerbaijan in the 1990s – have reported continuous heavy artillery fire on their capital, Stepanakert, since Friday. It reported an unspecified number of civilian casualties and said eight soldiers had been injured.

Fighting prompts international calls for immediate ceasefire in dispute over breakaway region

• What is happening in Nagorno-Karabakh and why does it matter?

Dozens of soldiers have been killed in the second day of clashes between Azerbaijani and Armenian forces over a disputed south Caucasus region, with international calls mounting for an immediate ceasefire.

Civilians have also been killed and are said to be among the hundreds wounded in the fiercest clashes since 2016 in an area that provides crucial transit routes for gas and oil to the international market.

Tensions over Nagorno-Karabakh region have caused one of Europe’s ‘frozen conflicts’ to erupt

Early on Sunday, Armenia announced it was declaring martial law, mobilising its army and ordering civilians to shelter. It claimed its neighbour Azerbaijan had launched a military operation inside a disputed region called Nagorno-Karabakh. Azerbaijan said it attacked only in response to Armenian shelling.