Azerbaijan said Saturday that Armenian forces killed 12 of its soldiers and shot down a helicopter as fierce fighting erupted between the arch-foes over the disputed Nagorny Karabakh region.

Azerbaijan said Saturday that Armenian forces killed 12 of its soldiers and shot down a helicopter as fierce fighting erupted between the arch-foes over the disputed Nagorny Karabakh region.

"Twelve Azeri servicemen were killed in action and a helicopter was shot down by Armenian forces," Azerbaijan's defense ministry said in a statement, also claiming that Azeri forces took control of "two strategic heights and a village" in Karabakh.