TBILISI (Reuters) -Armenia and Azerbaijan said on Friday that they had sustained casualties in fighting around their common border, northwest of the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh.
Armenia’s Defence Ministry said two of its servicemen had been killed and another wounded in shelling near the border villages of Sotk and Norabak. Azerbaijan said Armenia had struck its positions across the border in the Kalbajar region using drones, wounding three servicemen.
Armenia said Azerbaijan was massing forces close to the border, and striking its positions using drones, mortars and small arms fire. Azerbaijan denied gathering forces, but said it was taking “retaliatory measures”.
Reuters was unable to verify the reports.
Nagorno-Karabakh, internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan, has been a source of conflict between the two Caucasus neighbours since the years leading up to the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, and between ethnic Armenians and Turkic Azeris for well over a century.
Despite sporadic discussions on a peace deal to agree on borders, settle differences over the enclave and unfreeze relations, tensions remain high and skirmishes along the shared border are a regular occurrence.
(Reporting by Felix Light; Editing by Kevin Liffey)