Deadly clashes erupt again at Armenia-Azerbaijan border

Armenia’s Defense Ministry says the number of its soldiers killed in border clashes with Azerbaijan rose to three in the latest incident of skirmishes following the war of 2020.

According to reports, in a statement released on Wednesday, the ministry said the body of an Armenian serviceman was discovered with fatal gunshot wounds in the vicinity where "intense skirmishes" had erupted on the previous day.

Azerbaijan and Armenia reported clashes on their volatile border Tuesday, when one Azeri soldier and two Armenian troops were killed. Two Azeri soldiers were also wounded. The neighbors accused each other of initiating renewed fighting.

Azerbaijan's Defense Ministry said its forces "suppressed" the enemy following the incident in the Kalbajar area on the border. Armenia denounced what it described as the Azeri army's “provocative actions.”

The Kalbajar district was one of several Armenia ceded to Azerbaijan as part of a ceasefire agreement brokered by Moscow.

Yerevan earlier said Azerbaijan had deployed drones and artillery against its troops in a region on its eastern border, a claim Baku denied.

Tensions between Yerevan and Baku remain high more than a year after the arch-foes fought a war over the disputed Karabakh region. The six-week conflict, which claimed more than 6,500 lives on both sides, ended in November 2020 with a Russian-brokered deal that left Azerbaijan largely in control of the territory.

SS