Azerbaijan president criticizes mediators; fighting rages on

Baku:  Heavy fighting between Armenia and Azerbaijan continued Saturday in their conflict over the separatist territory of Nagorno-Karabakh, while Azerbaijan’s president criticized the international mediators who have tried for decades to resolve the dispute.
Fighting that started September 27 is the worst to afflict Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding areas since the 1994 end of a war that left the region in Azerbaijan under the control of ethnic Armenian local forces backed by Armenia.
Shushan Stepanian, a spokeswoman for the Armenian Defence Ministry, told The Associated Press that intensive fighting is taking place along the entire front line, and claimed that Armenian forces had shot down three planes.
Azerbaijan’s defense ministry did not respond to the claim of planes being shot down but said Armenian forces had shelled civilian territory within Azerbaijan, including the city of Terter.
Nagorno-Karabakh officials have said more than 150 servicemen on their side have been killed so far.
Azerbaijani authorities haven’t given details on their military casualties but said 19 civilians have been killed and 55 more wounded.