BAKU. July 5 (Interfax) - The OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs - Igor Popov of Russia, Stephane Visconti of France, and Richard Hoagland of the United States - have condemned the civilian casualties in the Karabakh conflict zone.
"The Minsk Group Co-Chairs urgently call upon the sides to cease military action. Violence only begets further violence and accomplishes nothing. The only responsible and humane way to resolve this long-standing conflict is for the sides to return to the negotiation table in good faith," the co-chairs said in a statement.
The co-chairs extend their condolences to the families of the victims.
On Tuesday, Azerbaijan accused the Armenian army of shelling a village in the Fizuli district, causing the death of a woman and a child.
Tensions in the Karabakh conflict zone abruptly escalated in the small hours of April 2, 2016, and hostilities involving aircraft and artillery erupted. The sides traded accusations of breaching the truce on the contact line.
It was announced in Baku and Stepanakert, capital city of the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR), on April 5, 2016, that the sides had agreed to cease fire in the Karabakh conflict zone. Mutual accusations of truce breaches have been made on a daily basis since then.
Negotiations are being mediated by the OSCE Minsk Group formed in 1992 to search for ways of peaceful settlement of the Karabakh conflict. The group involves Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Germany, Italy, Sweden, Finland and Turkey. It is co-chaired by Russia, France and the United States.