3 killed, 9 wounded in fresh fighting in eastern Ukraine

At least three people were killed and nine others wounded in fighting in eastern Ukraine, reports said Tuesday.

Ukrainian military spokesman Andriy Lysenko said two government soldiers were killed and eight others were wounded during fighting with pro-independence insurgents in the past 24 hours, which marked the highest daily casualty toll of the Ukrainian army since Sept. 13.

Despite the current ceasefire, government positions were targeted 57 times in the past day, Lysenko said, accusing insurgents of using heavy weapons in half of their attacks.

Meanwhile, the insurgent-run DAN news agency said two women were wounded during the shelling of the insurgent-controlled Sakhanka village in the Donetsk region, and one of them later died in hospital.

Ten private homes were damaged by the shelling in Sakhanka, the agency said, blaming the Ukrainian army for the attack.

There were no confirmed combat casualties on the insurgent side.

The escalation of tensions followed almost a month of a relative calm, which came after on Sept. 15 when the confronting sides established a new round of the ceasefire.

Overall, more than 9,600 people have been killed and some 22,400 others wounded in the conflict that began in mid-April 2014. Endi