At least 10 people were killed in skirmishes between Azeri government forces and ethnic Armenian separatists controlling the breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh enclave of Azerbaijan, Reuters cited officials from both sides as saying on Friday. The recurring violence around Nagorno-Karabakh, a mountainous majority Armenian area, underlined the risk of broader conflict in the South Caucasus where vital oil and natural gas flow from the Caspian region to Europe. Energy-producing Azerbaijan, host to oil majors including BP , Chevron and ExxonMobil, frequently threatens to take Nagorno-Karabakh back by force, and is spending heavily on its armed forces. Armenia, an ex-Soviet republic and an ally of Moscow, has warned it would intervene if Nagorno-Karabakh were overrun. Fighting between ethnic Azeris and Armenians first erupted in 1991 and a ceasefire was called in 1994. But Azerbaijan and Armenia have regularly traded accusations of further violence around Nagorno-Karabakh and along the Azeri-Armenian border. Azerbaijan's Defence Ministry said eight of its soldiers were killed in overnight skirmishes along the line that demarcates Nagorno-Karabakh from Azerbaijan. -- SPA 22:00 LOCAL TIME 19:00 GMT تغريد
