"Heavy fighting" took place on Saturday, October 3, on the front line of Nagorno-Karabakh, where soldiers from this separatist territory, supported politically, economically and militarily by Armenia, "managed to stop the attack in large scale "of the Azerbaijani army, according to the Armenian Ministry of Defense.

The Nagorno-Karabakh army "managed to stop the large-scale attack by the enemy," ministry spokeswoman Chuchan Stepanian said on her Facebook page, adding that "heavy fighting" was currently taking place in many areas of the front.

On one of these positions, "our forces counter-attacked," he said.

Hit several times on Friday by Azerbaijani bombings, Stepanakert, the regional "capital" of Nagorno-Karabakh, lived a quieter night, but the clashes were violent on the front line, according to the Armenian and separatist authorities.

Several buildings in Stepanakert were damaged by heavy artillery fire.

"I left my house and 5 or 10 minutes later, boom, there was an explosion. Fortunately, there was no one at home," Nelson Adamian, 65, told AFP in a town whose inhabitants were busy cleaning up the debris on Saturday.

Shots were heard again in the morning, according to an AFP correspondent.

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"This is our last battle, which we will definitely win"

"The enemy has deployed reinforced troops. Our soldiers are showing heroic resistance," Armenian army spokesman Artsroun Hovhannisian said on Facebook, assuring that "fierce fighting continues".

Same worried tone from the "president" of Nagorno-Karabakh, Arayik Haroutiounian, who told reporters that "the nation and the motherland are in danger" and announced his intention to go to the front.

"The time has come for the whole nation to become a powerful army. This is our last battle, which we will surely win," he added.

In the opposing camp, the Azerbaijani army again claimed, in a statement, the taking of separatist positions and having "cleaned the territory of enemy troops".

Since the start of hostilities on Sunday, only partial reports have been communicated, reporting a total of 191 dead: 158 soldiers from Nagorno-Karabakh, 14 Armenian civilians, and 19 Azerbaijani civilians, Baku not communicating its losses.

On the other hand, each camp claims successes denied by the other and reports hundreds of enemy soldiers killed every day.

The Armenians thus assure that more than 3,000 Azerbaijani soldiers have perished since Sunday, when hostilities resumed.

For its part, Baku says it has killed 2,300 Armenian soldiers.

Concern of foreign powers

Both sides have largely ignored the multiple calls from the international community to silence the guns.

On Friday, the UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, notably called for the "immediate end of hostilities".

For the first time, Russian President Vladimir Putin has expressed "deep concern" over the supposed presence of pro-Turkish fighters sent from the Middle East by Ankara, Baku's unwavering support.

Mohammad Javad Zarif, Iranian Foreign Minister, whose country is a neighbor of the two belligerents, also said he was "concerned" during an interview with his counterpart Sergey Lavrov, according to a statement from Moscow. 

French President Emmanuel Macron had previously said that 300 "jihadist" fighters left Syria to join Azerbaijan via Turkey, a "red line" according to him.

Russia had reported similar information, without directly accusing Ankara with whom it has a complicated but pragmatic relationship.

Despite Baku's denials, Ankara remaining silent on the issue, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (OSDH) has counted the deaths on the front line in Nagorno-Karabakh at least 28 pro-Ankara fighters since the start of the hostilities.

With AFP

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