Armenia and Azerbaijan challenge ceasefire, ongoing fighting

Armenia and Azerbaijan continued fighting in and around the controversial Nagorno Karabakh region, despite the international community's calls for implementation of a ceasefire brokered by Russia.

Azerbaijan's Defence Ministry said Tuesday that the situation in some parts of the conflict zone has been tense overnight and accused the Armenian armed forces of shelling the Tartar district this morning.

The Armenian Defence Ministry denied the accusations, claiming the Azerbaijanian side “resumed shares accompanied by fire by artillery”.

Nagorno Karabaku is internationally known as part of Azerbaijan, but is governed and populated by ethnic Armenians.

Hundreds of soldiers and civilians have been killed since the start of fighting in and around the region on September 27th.

The ceasefire agreement was reached in Moscow on 10 October and aimed at allowing ethnic Armenian and Azerbaijanan forces to exchange prisoners and troops of people killed in combat.

The two former Soviet republics -- Azerbaijan and Armenia -- have fought for the Nagorno Karabakh region even in 1988-1994, which has left about 30,000 people dead.

But it is unclear what has caused the recent fighting.