Ban was particularly concerned by the reported use of heavy weapons and by the large numbers of casualties.

"If the Minsk Group had taken fair and decisive steps over this, we wouldn't have seen this incident happening right now," Erdogan said.

А 19-year-old civilian injured in Azeri shelling was transported to Armenia from Karabakh, the Republic’s Ministry of Health said.

"I am dismayed and deeply concerned by the escalation of hostilities at the contact line in the Karabakh conflict zone,” Thorbjarn Jagland said.

“We are gravely concerned by the reported large-scale ceasefire violations that are taking place along the line of contact,” James Appathurai said.

"I call on all the parties to stop the fighting immediately and respect the ceasefire," Frank-Walter Steinmeier was quoted as saying.

"The Republic of Armenia is fully committed to ensuring the security of the Nagorno Karabakh residents," Serzh Sargsyan said.

"Forced to acknowledge its losses, Baku seeks to justify itself," Ministry's spokesman Artsrun Hovhannisyan said in a Facebook post.