MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) – In a fresh flare-up of tensions between the Caucasus enemies, Armenia and Azerbaijan accused each other’s troops of opening fire along their border in the separatist enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh on Sunday.
Last autumn, the two former Soviet republics fought for six weeks over Nagorno-Karabakh, resulting in more than 6,500 deaths.
In a statement, Yerevan’s defence ministry stated that “units of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces tried a temporary attack in the eastern direction of the Armenia-Azerbaijan border.”
Armenian forces “thwarted the enemy’s effort” and “an intense exchange of fire ensued,” according to the report.
Armenian soldiers deployed “sniper rifles, grenade launchers, and other calibre weaponry” against Azerbaijani positions in multiple areas on Saturday night, according to Azerbaijan.
The district of Kalbajar was one among them, which Baku took over last year after nearly three decades of Armenian rule.
According to the Azerbaijani government, “appropriate steps have been taken to put an end to the provocation.” There were no deaths recorded by any country.
The single route between Armenia and the separatist enclave, the Lachin Corridor, was momentarily closed due to an incident between the two sides on Saturday, according to Nagorno-Karabakh authorities.
Both Azerbaijan and Armenia have recorded sporadic exchanges of fire along their shared border since last year’s conflict, raising worries of a new flare-up in their territorial dispute.
The conflict concluded in November with a Russian-brokered ceasefire in which Armenia relinquished to Turkish-backed Azerbaijan areas it had ruled for decades, but tensions remain high.
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