FOUR journalists were wounded as fighting between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh continued today.

Two French reporters for Le Monde newspaper, a cameraman for Armenia TV and a reporter with Armenia’s 24News outlet were hospitalised following Azerbaijani shelling of the Armenian town of Martuni.

Clashes since Sunday have caused scores of deaths, with the exact cause of renewed fighting over the region unclear. 

The area is internationally regarded as part of Azerbaijan but ruled as the Armenian-majority Republic of Artsakh and defended by Armenian soldiers since the end of a war in 1994.

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said the only condition that would end the fighting was a full Armenian withdrawal from Nagorno-Karabakh.

His statement that “Azerbaijan is restoring its territorial integrity” supports Armenian claims that Baku is responsible for the sudden outbreak of hostilities. 

Armenia says Turkey has deployed F-16 fighter jets from its air force to support Azerbaijani troops.

France said on Wednesday night that President Emmanuel Macron shared concerns aired by Russia about Turkey’s deployment of “Syrian mercenaries” to the conflict. 

The Morning Star first reported that Turkey was sending jihadists relocated from Syria to fight alongside Azerbaijani forces back in July, when Turkey and Azerbaijan conducted military exercises that Armenia protested involved firing over the border.

Turkey was a major sponsor of radical Islamist terrorists fighting to overthrow the Syrian government, and has also deployed jihadists from that conflict in Libya, where it supports the Tripoli government against the forces of rebel General Khalifa Haftar.