BAKU — Azerbaijan and ethnic Armenian forces have resumed fighting over Nagorno-Karabakh following the collapse of a US-brokered ceasefire aimed at ending weeks of conflict in the disputed region.

The truce that took effect Monday morning was agreed upon on Sunday after talks facilitated by the United States. It was a third attempt to establish a lasting ceasefire in the flare-up of a decades-old conflict and, just like the previous two, it was immediately challenged by claims of violation from both sides, AP said

Nagorno-Karabakh lies within Azerbaijan but has been under the control of ethnic Armenian forces backed by Armenia since a war there ended in 1994. The latest fighting that began on Septe. 27 has killed hundreds of people and risks sucking Turkey and Russia into a regional conflict, Reuters said.

In the Martakert region of Nagorno-Karabakh, fighting has continued despite the promises of ceasefires. Euronews reporter Emin Ibrahimov traveled from Naftalan to Talish and through territory formerly occupied by Armenian forces.

The evidence of past combat is to be seen in the burned-out vehicles lying abandoned on the roadside. The route remains treacherous. The zone is of strategic importance because it contains the Sugovushan reservoir — or the Madagiz reservoir to the Armenians.

The dam was built to provide water supplies for farmers living in the Azerbaijani populated Terter region. The farmers claim that when Armenians took control of the dam in 1992, they diverted the water away from them.

"We are now at the reoccupied water reservoir of the Sugovushan settlement," said Col. Babek Semidli of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces. — Agencies