Putin Calls for End to Nagorno-Karabakh Clashes

Russian President Vladimir Putin has called for an end to fighting after clashes broke out in the disputed Caucasus region of Nagorno-Karabakh, BBC News reports.

TV pictures showed a burned out vehicle and craters after a night of gunfire and heavy shelling.

Nagorno-Karabakh has been in the hands of ethnic Armenian separatists since a war that ended in 1994.

Azerbaijan said its armed forces came under fire first from large-calibre artillery and grenade-launchers. The Armenian government said Azerbaijan started the fighting with tanks, artillery, and helicopters.

The Nagorno-Karabakh military said Armenian anti-aircraft fire had shot down an Azeri helicopter, but Azerbaijan denied this, Reuters news agency reported.

Similar violence was reported last month.

Fighting between the two sides began in the late 1980s and escalated into full-scale war in 1991 as the Soviet Union collapsed, killing about 30,000 people before a ceasefire in 1994.

The region, which lies inside Azerbaijan but is controlled by ethnic Armenians, has since run its own affairs with Armenian military and financial backing.

However, sporadic fighting since then is estimated to have killed a further 30,000 people.