Baku, April 4, 2016 (AFP) – Azerbaijan said on Monday the death of three of its soldiers in fighting with Armenian forces in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh, the third day of clashes continue despite calls the quiet of the international community.

At least 33 soldiers of both sides and three civilians have been killed since the resumption Friday of hostilities, the deadliest since the cease-fire established between Yerevan and Baku in 1994. More than 200 soldiers and civilians were wounded.

This conflict, whose sources date back centuries but which has crystallized in Soviet times when Moscow attributed this mainly Armenian territory to the Soviet Socialist Republic of Azerbaijan, involved in the strategic Caucasus region for the transport of hydrocarbons near Iran, Turkey and the gateway to the Middle East.

Military escalation is also involved when Russia, which has good relations with Armenia and Turkey, traditional ally of Azerbaijan, through a serious diplomatic crisis over war base in Syria.

On the ground, three Azerbaijani soldiers were killed by “mortar and grenade launchers from the trenches” occupied by Armenian forces along the front line, according to the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry.

“If the Armenian provocations continue, we will launch a magnitude operation all along the front line and we will use all our weapons,” said the spokesman of the ministry, Vagif Dargahly.

The troops of Baku “intensified their bombing Monday morning on the positions of the army of Karabakh, using 152mm mortars, rocket launchers and tanks”, for their part, said the authorities of the breakaway region, supported by Yerevan.

Armenian forces “have greatly advanced in some areas of the forehead and took new positions,” assured the spokesman for the Armenian Defense Ministry, Artsrun Hovhannisyan.

Azerbaijan has denounced as “false” the claims, ensuring in turn control since Saturday several strategic heights in Karabakh, he now intends to “strengthen” after Sunday announced his intention to “unilaterally cease hostilities”.

Backed by Armenia, the Nagorno-Karabakh authorities said they were “ready to discuss a truce proposal” provided to recover the lost positions and territories in the region, recognized as belonging to Azerbaijan by the international community .

– Political Reason ‘-

“Major violations of the cease-fire in Nagorno-Karabakh tend not to be accidental, but rather to have a political motive,” said Thomas de Waal, an analyst with the Carnegie Foundation, which estimates that more than 20,000 the number soldiers on each side of the front line.

Russia tries to maintain an uncertain balance in its relations with the two former Soviet republics, which it sells weapons. It remains the historical ally of Armenia, where it has two military bases recently strengthened.

Turkey engaged in a standoff with Moscow since the destruction of a Russian bomber in November, for its part announced that it would support Azerbaijan “to the end” and “praying that (his) brothers Azerbaijanis triumph “.

After a war which have 30,000 dead and hundreds of thousands of refugees, mainly Azerbaijani, Nagorno-Karabakh came under the control of separatist forces near Yerevan. The area is now populated mainly by Armenians.

No peace treaty has been signed and after a period of relative calm, the region has experienced in recent months a sharp escalation of tensions. Yerevan estimated end of December we had returned to the “war”.

Baku, whose only defense budget is some years more important than the whole budget of Armenia, often threatens to take by force the Nagorno-Karabakh if ​​diplomatic negotiations fail.

“Azerbaijan understands that he can not rely purely on military force to change the status quo, especially because of the Russian presence in Armenia. However, it can maneuver diplomatically and militarily for concessions, “said the center of American thinking Stratfor.

“But despite the original intentions of Baku, this strategy may cause a broader conflict in which none of the belligerent is not prepared,” he considers.

Emil Guliyev with Mariam HARUTYUNYAN in Yerevan