Violence that has intensified since the start of this year underlines the risk of broader conflict in the South Caucasus, a region crisscrossed by oil and gas pipelines.

Armenia-backed separatists seized Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding Azeri districts in the early 1990s. Repeated efforts to secure a lasting end to hostilities have failed despite mediation led by France, Russia and the United States.

Sporadic clashes between the two countries have thwarted international efforts to end a conflict that broke out over Nagorno-Karabakh in the final years of the Soviet Union and killed about 30,000 people.

"I would like to urge the sides to ensure a full ceasefire and cessation of hostilities," Ivica Dacic, the Serbian foreign minister and currently the rotating chairman of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, said in a statement.

"I deplore the upsurge in acts of violence resulting in loss of lives, and I call on the sides to demonstrate responsibility and avoid steps that would lead to further escalation."

Armenia and Azerbaijan gave conflicting death tolls and disputed who was to blame for the recent spike in violence.

The Azeri Defence Ministry said three of its own and 17 Armenian soldiers had been killed. Nagorno-Karabakh separatists put the death toll at 10 Armenian and 26 Azeri soldiers.

Oil-producing Azerbaijan, host to global majors including BP , Chevron and ExxonMobil, frequently threatens to take the mountain region back by force, and is spending heavily on its armed forces.

 

 

(Reuters)