Over 100 people are confirmed dead as Armenia and Azerbaijan are currently engaged in the heaviest fighting over the Nagorno-Karabakh region since the two former Soviet republics fought a war between 1988-1994 over the region. With growing fears that international powers could be dragged into the conflict, it is still unclear what exactly triggered the fighting. On Wednesday, Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev vowed to fight until "Armenian armed forces must unconditionally, fully, and immediately leave our lands". Armenia's Ministry of Defense released photographs of an Armenia Sukhoi SU-25 jet aircraft allegedly shot down by a Turkish General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon jet, a claim that Turkey, an ally of Azerbaijan had rejected and dismissed as "cheap propaganda".

Armenia media states that 7 Armenian civilians have been killed since fighting erupted on Sunday while Azerbaijani media state that 14 Azeri civilian lives have been lost so far. While the Nagorno-Karabakh region is officially part of Azerbaijan, it is governed by ethnic Armenians.

The conflict has raised tensions between NATO allies France and Turkey. While France is home to many people of Armenian ancestry, Turkey has supported its fellow Turkic nation Azerbaijan. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu accused France of supporting Armenia occupation in Azerbaijan, though French President Emmanuel Macron criticized Turkey's "warlike messages".

The United Nations strongly condemned the conflict, and has called upon the two conflicting nations to deescalate tensions and enter negotiations "without delay". Meanwhile, Russia has offered to host talks to end the conflict.

Note: All photos used in this article were retrieved from the public domain, and do not require attribution or citation for commercial use. the first flag depicted is the Armenian flag. The second flag depicted is the Azerbaijan flag.