Armenia and Azerbaijan on Tuesday reported large border clashes that left Azerbaijani troops dead, in the latest outbreak of violence between the two countries.
Frequent shootings have been reported along their shared border since the end of the 2020 war between Yerevan and Baku over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region.
"On Tuesday at 00:05, Azerbaijan launched an intensive bombardment with artillery and large-calibre firearms against Armenian military positions in the direction of the towns of Goris, Sotk and Jermuk," the Armenian Defence Ministry reported. It said in a statement that Azerbaijan also used drones.
For its part, the Azerbaijani Defence Ministry accused Armenia of "large-scale subversive acts" near the border districts of Dashkesan, Kelbajar and Lachin, adding that its army positions "came under fire, especially trench mortars." It added that there had been military losses though didn't give figures.
Heavy artillery fire being reported from Azerbaijan towards Armenia. pic.twitter.com/q3uNO4mJHi
— Moshe Schwartz (@YWNReporter) September 12, 2022
The neighbouring countries fought two wars – in the 1990s and in 2020 – in the Nagorno-Karabakh region, an Azerbaijani enclave populated by Armenians. Six weeks of fighting in the fall of 2020 left more than 6,500 dead and ended in a Russian-brokered ceasefire.
As part of the deal, Armenia ceded swathes of territory it had controlled for decades and Moscow deployed some 2,000 Russian military personnel to oversee the fragile truce.
During European-mediated talks in Brussels in May and April, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian agreed to "advance discussions" on a future peace treaty.
