Armenia: Another soldier killed in fighting in the border area with Azerbaijan

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Armenian soldier in the Nagorno-Karabakh region (symbolic image)

Photo: Artem Mikryukov / REUTERS

More military personnel were killed in fighting between Armenia and Azerbaijan: On Wednesday the Armenian Defense Ministry reported the death of a third Armenian soldier.

His body was discovered after the "intense" clashes on Tuesday near the site of the clashes.

The two countries accused each other of triggering the exchange of fire in which an Azerbaijani soldier and two Armenian soldiers were killed on Tuesday.

According to Azerbaijani sources, the clashes occurred in the border province of Kalbashar near the Nagorno-Karabakh region.

Armenia accused the Azerbaijani armed forces of attacking their positions with artillery and drones, while Baku spoke of "provocations" from the neighboring country.

Armenia and Azerbaijan have been fighting over control of the Nagorno-Karabakh region for decades.

In autumn 2020 they had fought violent fights for weeks, more than 6,500 people were killed.

The fighting ended in November 2020 with a ceasefire agreement.

Since then, however, there have been isolated skirmishes with dead and injured.

After the six-week fighting over Nagorno-Karabakh, Armenia had to cede large areas to Azerbaijan under the ceasefire agreement, which it had controlled for decades.

Many Armenians see this as a national humiliation.

In Azerbaijan, the outcome of the fighting is seen as a triumph.

anr / AFP