Armenian and Azeri forces fought new clashes on Friday, dashing hopes for an end to nearly 3 weeks of fighting over the Nagorno Karabakh region, this comes at a time when US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo criticized Turkey, considering that its position exacerbates the situation.

Regarding the latest developments, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said that his country had incurred the Armenian army's military losses estimated at two billion dollars so far, indicating that Armenia had announced the killing of 600 soldiers, but the death toll was more than that, according to his estimate.

Aliyev asked about the party that finances Armenia, which has a limited budget, indicating its intention to liberate the city of Shusha, located in the Karabakh Heights, from occupation, and if this does not materialize, they will consider themselves not completing what they started.

Earlier today, the Azerbaijani Ministry of Defense announced that the Armenian army had targeted its forces stationed in the liberated areas of Gabriel and Herderot with artillery and missiles, while the Armenian forces confirmed that they had been subjected to similar attacks by the Azerbaijani forces.

Aliyev: Azerbaijan has inflicted two billion dollars in military losses on the Armenian army (Al-Jazeera)

Intense activity

And the Azerbaijani Ministry of Defense stated - in a statement today - that the Armenian forces intensified their activities in some areas of the front at night, but the Azerbaijani army was able to repel them.

It indicated that two tanks, a Grad missile system, 5 cannons, a Shilka combat vehicle, and 8 vehicles loaded with ammunition were destroyed.

It pointed out that a number of Armenian soldiers were killed and others were wounded, and the withdrawal of members of the Armenian Fifth Infantry Division.

The Ministry of Defense in Azerbaijan broadcasted pictures that it said were of a number of villages in the Khojavin province, one of the seven Azerbaijani provinces occupied by Armenia in the early 1990s.

These villages are located in the western region of Karabakh, between the region and the Armenian lands.

Azerbaijan had declared control of 49 villages and towns, in addition to the city of Gabriel, since the beginning of the battles in the region, on 27 September.

Al-Jazeera correspondent in Azerbaijan confirmed that the exchange of shelling between the Azerbaijani and Armenian sides continues, despite the ceasefire agreement.

He also confirmed that a number of shells fell on the cities and villages of Goranboy, Tatar, Aghdam and Aghabadi regions, without any casualties reported.

The correspondent added - quoting Azeri military sources - that the confrontations on the Agdara Aghdam axis in the northeast, and the Fozuli Gabriel axis in the south, continued throughout the night and into this morning.

Bombing and attacking

On the other hand, a spokesman for the Armenian Defense Ministry, Artsorn Hovhannisyan, said that the Azerbaijani forces launched early this morning a large-scale attack in the northern direction of the front line of battle in Karabakh, adding that the attack was preceded by intense artillery shelling.

The Al-Jazeera correspondent on the Armenian side of Karabakh province said that the Azeri forces targeted the border point between Armenia and the Karabakh region, which is not recognized internationally.

A military source indicated to the island that the bombing was with rocket-propelled grenades, and resulted in cutting off the main road between Armenia and the region, without human damage.

For its part, the Ministry of Defense in Nagorno Karabakh - which is not recognized internationally - announced the deaths of 29 of its soldiers, bringing the number of soldiers who have died since the outbreak of the fighting to 633.

On the other hand, Azerbaijan does not announce any military casualties, but 47 civilians were killed and 222 wounded, according to the Azerbaijan Prosecutor's Office.

Scenes of the devastation caused by the ongoing battles (Reuters)

Warning and condemnation

In a context related to the intensifying conflict, Iran issued a warning to neighboring Armenia and Azerbaijan on Friday, after several shells fell as a result of the ongoing war between them to control Karabakh, wounding one person on the Iranian side of the border.

For its part, the Turkish Foreign Ministry expressed, in a statement, its strong condemnation of Armenia's bombing of the Ordobad region of the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic of Azerbaijan.

The Foreign Ministry stated that Armenia has started to increase its hostility in recent days due to the losses it incurs over the territories it occupies, describing this bombing of this region - which has a common border with Turkey - as a new and dangerous model for Armenia's endeavors to expand clashes outside the Azerbaijani territories it occupies.

Pompeo criticized the Turkish position on the crisis in Karabakh (Getty Images)

Position and criticism

For his part, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo criticized Turkey, a partner in NATO, over the conflict in which Ankara supports Azerbaijan, saying that its position is exacerbating the situation in the Karabakh region.

Pompeo said Turkey had exacerbated the conflict by providing supplies to Azerbaijan.

He said in an interview with "WSB Atlanta" that a diplomatic solution is needed, rather than "for other countries to intervene and contribute their military power in a situation that is more like a powder keg."

The United States has so far insisted on finding a diplomatic solution and calls for a truce.

Washington is one of the heads of the Minsk Group (Historical Mediator in the Conflict), which is co-chaired with France and Russia.