Soldiers take part in the multinational military drill named "Noble Partner 2018" at Vaziani base near Tbilisi, Georgia, Aug. 1, 2018. The 13-nation military exercise "Noble Partner 2018" kicked off in Georgia's Vaziani military base on Wednesday with over 3,000 soldiers taking part, the Georgian Defense Ministry said. Armenia, Azerbaijan, Britain, Estonia, France, Georgia, Germany, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, Turkey, Ukraine and the United States are participating in the drills which will end on Aug. 16.(Xinhua/Kulumbegashvili Tamuna)

An Armenian woman and child were killed Sunday when heavy fighting erupted between Azerbaijan and Armenian separatists, with the two foes accusing each other of starting fighting that led to casualties on both sides.

Ethnic Armenian separatists seized the Nagorny Karabakh region from Baku in a 1990s war that claimed 30,000 lives.

Talks to resolve the Karabakh dispute - one of the worst conflicts to emerge from the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union - have been largely stalled since a 1994 cease-fire agreement.

Armenia said Sunday Azerbaijan attacked civilian settlements in Nagorny Karabakh.

Azerbaijan's defense ministry said it launched a "counter offensive to suppress Armenia's combat activity and ensure the safety of the population," using tanks, artillery missiles, combat aviation and drones.

"There are reports of dead and wounded among civilians and military servicemen," said spokesman for the Azerbaijani president, Hikmet Hajiyev.

Karabakh's ombudsman Artak Beglaryan said "there are civilian casualties" among the region's population.

Separately, a spokesman for the Armenian defense ministry said an Armenian woman and child were killed in Karabakh. 

The worst clashes since 2016 have raised the specter of a fresh large-scale war between arch-foes Azerbaijan and Armenia that have been locked for decades in a territorial dispute over Nagorny Karabakh.

A major confrontation between the ex-Soviet Caucasus neighbors would draw in big regional players Russia and Turkey.

On Sunday morning, Azerbaijan started "active bombing" along Karabakh's frontline and of civilian targets, including in the main city Stepanakert, Karabakh's president said in a statement.

The rebel defense ministry claimed its troops shot down two Azerbaijani helicopters and three drones.

The claims were denied by the defense ministry in Baku, saying its forces were responding to an Armenian offensive.

Hajiyev said Armenian forces in Karabakh "blatantly violated the cease-fire 'regime' and, using large-caliber weapons, mortar launchers and artillery have launched an intensive attack on the positions of the armed forces of Azerbaijan along the frontline."

Azerbaijan's transport ministry said it has "put restrictions on internet traffic" in the country "in order to prevent Armenian provocations."

AFP