Live Updates: Azerbaijani Military Claims Armenian Forces Retreating Along the Frontline in Karabakh

YEREVAN (Sputnik) - The state emergency service of the unrecognized Republic of Artsakh (Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh) says air raid sirens went off several times in the capital Stepanakert in the early hours of Sunday.

"In parallel with military activity, the enemy continues to destroy civilian settlements with long-range missiles. In Stepanakert, an air raid siren went off three times in the past hour. The enemy has been launching strikes indiscriminately against residential areas and public facilities. No casualties, a lot of destruction," the emergency service said in a Facebook statement.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Russian President Vladimir Putin held a phone conversation to discuss the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, the Kremlin said Saturday.

"They held a detailed discussion of the situation around the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. The Russian president informed his Turkish counterpart about a series of phone talks he had held with Azerbaijani and Armenian leaders. These contacts aimed at finding a way to end hostilities and nearing a political and diplomatic solution," a press release read.

"They confirmed their full readiness for cooperation in order to find a peaceful solution to the conflict," the Kremlin added.

ANKARA (Sputnik) - Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said during a phone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin that Armenia needed to end what Ankara sees as occupation of Azerbaijani land, the Turkish presidency said Saturday.

"During the talks, they discussed the Turkish-Russian relationship and regional events, primarily the Nagorno-Karabakh. President Erdogan said that Armenia needed to leave the occupied Azeri land and that Azeri counter-offensive did not go beyond its territory," a statement read.

Erdogan added that Armenia should be convinced to sit down at the negotiating table to discuss a "commonsense" solution to the Karabakh conflict, which he said was key to bringing back stability to the region.

YEREVAN (Sputnik) - The overall number of Azerbaijan's casualties in the recently escalated conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh has surpassed 7,500, the Armenian Unified Infocentre, run by the Armenian government, said on Saturday.

As of Saturday, Azerbaijan’s losses include 262 drones, 16 helicopters, 25 aircraft, 749 armoured vehicles, six heavy flamethrower systems, as well as 7,510 people, the infocentre wrote on Facebook.

Over the past 24 hours, five UAVs and 13 armoured vehicles have been destroyed and 105 people killed, the infocentre added.

"The victorious armed forces of Azerbaijan liberated the Yuxari Veyselli, Yuxari Seyidehmedli, Gorgan, Uchunju Mahmudlu, Gachar and Divanalilar villages of Fuzuli, Yukhari Mezre and Yanarhach villages of Jabrayil, Gezyan, Balasoltanli and Merdanli villages of Gubadli, Beshdeli village of Zangilan, Garabulag and Moshmakhat villages of Khojaly, Atagut and Tsakuri of Khojavend. Long live Azerbaijan’s Armed Forces! Karabakh is Azerbaijan!", Aliyev tweeted on Saturday.

"It was relatively calm in Artsakh [Karabakh's endonym] during the night. After midnight it was relatively peaceful in Stepanakert and all other cities except Shushi. The Shushi fortress periodically suffered rocket attacks”, the service said in a statement posted on Facebook.

Later in the day, the breakaway republic's armed forces reported overnight combat in the vicinity.

"The fighting continued in the early hours of 7 November in all main directions of the frontline. The most sustained and intense fighting took place in the Shushi-Karintak area. Armenian units have successfully prevented multiple attempted attacks by the Azerbaijani Armed Forces, having destroyed a considerable number of [enemy] personnel”, the armed forces wrote on Facebook.

“The combat operations continued with varying intensity, mainly in the Aghdere, Aghdam, and Khojavend directions of the front. The enemy was forced to retreat suffering losses to military personnel and military vehicles in some areas of the front”, the ministry said in a post on Facebook, adding that combat operations are ongoing on all sides of the front.

According to the statement, Armenian military losses and retreat have continued despite the armed forces filling their ranks with volunteers from the local ethnically Armenian population.

"In order to strengthen the special forces of the enemy, who have suffered heavy losses in military personnel since the beginning of combat operations to the present, local residents and volunteers also joined them recently. Despite this, the special forces, who suffered heavy losses during the last battle, were forced to retreat from their positions", the statement read.

Information provided by the ministry claimed that the Azerbaijani Armed Forces had surrounded and destroyed the 22nd special forces military unit, while the 178th independent reconnaissance battalion lost half its personnel, either killed or wounded in combat.