BAKU: Armenia and Azerbaijan have each accused the other of beginning an exchange of fire around the contested Nagorno-Karabkah region that resulted in deaths on both sides.
Defence ministries from both countries issued statements on Tuesday after-noon saying an unspecified number of their own troops had been killed in a clash close to the contested Lachin Corridor.
“Armenian army positions deployed near the settlement of Dyg [at the coun-tries’ shared border] opened heavy fire at Azerbaijani army positions,” the de-fence ministry in Baku said in a statement, adding that Azerbaijani troops “have returned fire”.
“There are dead and wounded among Azerbaijani troops,” the statement said, without specifying the number of casualties.
The Armenian defence ministry also reported an unspecified number of casual-ties, blaming Baku for initiating the shootout.
“At 16:00 (12:00 GMT) on Tuesday, Azerbaijani armed forces opened fire in the direction of Armenian servicemen who were conducting engineering works” near the border, the ministry said.
The two South Caucasus countries – both formerly part of the Soviet Union – have fought multiple wars over the last 35 years for control of Nagorno-Karabakh, which is internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan but home to a mainly ethnic Armenian population. Russia dispatched a thousands-strong peacekeeping contingent to the region in 2020 as part of a deal to end weeks of fighting that killed thousands and saw Azerbaijan make significant territorial gains.
Moscow is an ally of Armenia through a mutual self-defence pact, but has also attempted to maintain good relations with Baku. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Ali-yev have held several rounds of peace talks mediated by the European Union and the United States. –Agencies
