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Azerbaijan says 3 killed in fighting with separatist region

Associated Press
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In this photo taken Saturday, April 2, 2016, an Armenian volunteer is in a state of readiness in the town of Askeran in the separatist Nagorno-Karabakh region. Officials in Azerbaijan and the separatist region of Nagorno-Karabakh say fighting is persisting a day after the worst outburst of hostilities in nearly 20 years killed 30 soldiers. Nagorno-Karabakh, part of Azerbaijan, has been under the control of local ethnic Armenian forces and the Armenian military since a war ended in 1994 with no resolution of the region's status. (Hrayr Badalyan/PAN Photo via AP) (The Associated Press)

Graphic with map provides background on the separatist region of Nagorno-Karabakh in Azerbaijan; 2c x 5 inches; 96.3 mm x 127 mm; (The Associated Press)

An Armenian covers his ears while a howitzer fires at an artillery position of the self-defense army of Nagorno-Karabakh near Martakert, Azerbaijan, Sunday, April 3, 2016. Azerbaijan's Defense Ministry announced a unilateral cease-fire Sunday against the separatist region of Nagorno-Karabakh, but rebel forces in the area said that they continued to come under fire from Azerbaijani forces. (Vahram Baghdasaryan, PHOTOLURE via AP) (The Associated Press)

Azerbaijan's defense ministry says three of its troops have been killed in the past 24 hours in fighting with the separatist region of Nagorno-Karabakh.

Vagif Dargyakhly, the ministry's spokesman, on Monday said the rebels were shelling Azerbaijian's positions and front-line villages despite a cease-fire his government unilaterally announced.

Nagorno-Karabakh has been under the control of local ethnic Armenian forces and the Armenian military since a war ended in 1994 with no resolution of the region's status. Fighting flared up there over the weekend with a boy and at least 30 troops killed on both sides on Saturday, the worst fighting since the end of a full-scale war in 1994.

Azerbaijan on Sunday said it has unilaterally ceased fire but the rebels in Nagorno-Karabakh said their positions were still under attack.