Azerbaijan's defense minister vows stronger military action in Karabakh

"Our armed forces are carrying out devastating strikes against the enemy, as a result of which the enemy is suffering numerous casualties,” Hasanov said as he inaugurated a new army compound in an unidentified location.

"We will carry out even more devastating strikes against the enemy,” he said in comments on the ministry website. "The enemy will then feel the might of the Azerbaijani armed forces with greater pain. Our objective is to deal devastating blows to the enemy and drive it out of our lands. We will now be doing that in an even tougher fashion.”

The remarks followed a fresh upsurge in fighting along the line of contact around Karabakh and the Armenian-Azerbaijani border increasingly involving mortars and other heavy weaponry. Several soldiers on both sides have been killed there since the beginning of this month.

Tensions on the frontline escalated even after a December 3 statement by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov urging the conflicting parties "in the strongest possible terms” to respect the ceasefire regime.

The U.S., Russian and French mediators hope that the presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan will defuse the tensions in their face-to-face meeting expected later this month. No dates and venues for the meeting have been announced yet.