Authorities in the mountainous Nagorno-Karabakh region said Sunday that Azerbaijan had shelled the capital, Stepanakert, and nearby settlements. The US and Russia, which co-chair the Minsk group of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe that has tried to negotiate a settlement of the conflict, have condemned the violence and called for restraint. Azerbaijan’s defence ministry said two senior officers were killed in fighting on Tuesday along with five other service personnel. The initial exchanges cost lives on both sides, but also—if Armenian battle footage is to be believed—saw the destruction of far more materiel on the Azerbaijani side than the Armenian. Kareem Fahim in Istanbul contributed to this report. It’s not the only frozen conflict in the region, where the Soviet collapse has left behind many disputed territories. Both Russia and Iran have offered to negotiate an end to this newest round of hostilities. The conflict between the two countries dates to the collapse of the Soviet Union. Both the United States and Russia have played a significant role in the long-running but largely futile attempts at finding a permanent resolution to the issue. The religious aspects of the original conflict remained understated compared to nationalist fervor, and Nagorno-Karabakh never became a jihadi cause in the way that, say, Chechnya did. The head of the foreign ministry described him as having been “thrown in jail after he defended his country’s honor and dignity of the people.”. Each side blamed each other for the crisis Sunday; both declared martial law as tensions escalated. He called for an “immediate cessation of hostilities, de-escalation and strict adherence to the cease-fire.”. The conflict is only a day old, but it’s hard to see a triumphant Azerbaijani reclamation of Nagorno-Karabakh ahead. MOSCOW — Renewed fighting between Armenia and Azerbaijan on Sunday threatened to reignite a three-decade-old conflict over the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh. By itself, that might be an individual act of madness. Earlier, the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry claimed to have taken control of several villages in Nagorno-Karabakh. The most important news stories of the day, curated by Post editors and delivered every morning. The Republican and Democratic Parties Are Heading for Collapse. Decades of peace talks mediated by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe have failed to resolve the conflict. Powered by Israeli weapons, Azerbaijan is facing off against Armenia far from the long-disputed enclave, placing civilians—and possibly the Aliyev regime—at risk. Russia’s foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, had separate calls with his counterparts in Armenia and Azerbaijan on Monday to call for an immediate ceasefire. Azerbaijan said it was mounting a counteroffensive and claimed it had destroyed 12 Armenian air defense systems. His spokesman, Stéphane Dujarric, said in a statement that the UN chief “urges an immediate end to the fighting and calls on all involved to take immediate steps to de-escalate the situation and refrain from provocative rhetoric”. The latest incident began when Armenian and Azerbaijani troops exchanged fire in the northern section of their border. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was on the phone with both sides Sunday urging an end to fighting, according to a spokeswoman. As hostilities continued, Armenia also accused Azerbaijan of launching cyberattacks on Armenian government websites. Armenia claimed to have destroyed two helicopters, three drones and three tanks, saying it was in response to Azerbaijani aggression. Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar was quick to blame Armenia for the crisis Sunday. “In view of the escalating situation around the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Lavrov is conducting intensive contacts in a bid to encourage the sides to cease fire and begin negotiations to stabilize the situation,” spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told reporters on Sunday. Both countries have called up their reserves and declared martial law at home, as well as a state of war in some regions. Vahram Poghosyan, a spokesman for the region, said the situation on the border with Azerbaijan was now “under control,” the agency reported. But after Azerbaijan managed to get Safarov transferred from Hungary to Azerbaijan eight years into his life sentence for murder, the president immediately pardoned him, promoted him to major, gave him an apartment, and awarded him back pay. In theory, the two sides agreed the Madrid Principles in the mid-2000s: Armenia gives up the periphery of territory it occupies around Nagorno-Karabakh itself, displaced peoples return to their homes, both countries and outside powers guarantee the rights of the residents of the disputed region, and eventually the status of the territory is resolved.