MOSCOW (Sputnik) — On Saturday, Azerbaijan and Armenia reported about the rise of tensions in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh. According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), at least 33 people were killed and more than 200 injured as a result of violence escalation.
"The Armenians are shelling settlements in [two] directions on the line of contact in Karabakh," ministry's spokesman Vagif Dyargahly told RIA Novosti.
The conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh began in 1988, when the Armenian-dominated autonomous region sought to secede from the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic, before proclaiming independence after the Soviet Union's collapse in 1991. The rival sides agreed on cessation of hostilities in 1994. In September 2015, the conflict escalated, with the sides blaming each other for violating the truce.
