Azerbaijan, Armenia are on the verge of a full-scale war, whereas the World leaders urge a halt to violence after 24 dead in the territorial dispute.

Heavy fighting between Azerbaijani and Armenian forces broke out in the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region on Sunday.

The worst skirmishes since 2016 have raised the spectre of a fresh war between the ex-Soviet rivals, locked since the early 1990s in a stalemate over the Armenia-backed breakaway region of Nagorny Karabakh.

Seventeen Armenian separatist fighters were killed and more than 100 wounded in the fighting, Karabakh President Arayik Harutyunyan said, conceding that his forces had “lost positions”.

The United States has condemned escalating violence between Azerbaijan and Armenia, calling on both sides to cease hostilities immediately.