Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict: Armenian soldier killed

An Armenian soldier was killed Monday (July 27th) in clashes on the border between Armenia and Azerbaijan, the Armenian defense ministry said, bringing the death toll to 19 in recent fighting in the region. The ministry specified that the soldier, Achot Mikaelian, had died in the night from Sunday to Monday " as a result of an enemy sniper fire from a position in the north-east " of Armenia.

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For its part, the Azerbaijani Ministry of Defense accused the Armenian army of having fired at Azerbaijani positions in the last 24 hours using " heavy machine guns and sniper rifles ". Baku, which did not deplore losses, reported 45 incidents on the front line. Fighting between Armenia and Azerbaijan began on July 12 at their northern border. These are the worst clashes since 2016 between these two former Soviet republics.

30,000 dead in the early 1990s

They have decreased in intensity since July 17, but clashes are reported daily. According to official reports, a total of 19 people were killed in these recent hostilities: 12 soldiers and one Azerbaijani civilian and six Armenian soldiers. A seriously injured Armenian soldier died of his wounds in hospital last week, Yerevan said.

The two countries have been in conflict for decades over Nagorno-Karabakh, a secessionist region of Azerbaijan supported by Armenia and the scene of a war in the early 1990s that claimed 30,000 lives. However, recent hostilities have taken place far from this territory, on the northern border between the two states, a rare escalation. Russia, a regional power, close to both Armenia and Azerbaijan, said it was ready to take on the role of mediator, as it has already done in the past during previous clashes.

On Monday evening, Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke on the phone about the situation with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who supports Baku. According to a statement from the Kremlin, the two presidents notably affirmed that they wanted "to settle the conflict only by peaceful means ", saying they were ready to " coordinate their efforts to stabilize the region ".