Armenia-Azerbaijan border fighting escalates, 14 killed

Fighting between Armenian and Azerbaijani forces escalated Tuesday, with Azerbaijan reporting seven more troops killed, including a general, and Armenia saying it has lost two servicemen.Skirmishes on volatile border between two South Caucasus nations began Sunday. new losses bring number of Azerbaijani troops killed to 11. Armenia previously reported five of its troops wounded.

An Azerbaijani civilian also died from Armenian shelling Tuesday, Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry said, bringing total casualties from fighting to 14. two neighbors in South Caucasus have been locked in conflict over Nagor-Karabakh, a region of Azerbaijan that has been under control of ethnic Armenian forces backed by Armenia since a war re ended in 1994. International efforts to settle conflict have stalled.

Armenian and Azerbaijani forces have frequently engd in clashes. current skirmishes appear to mark most serious spike in hostilities since 2016 when scores were killed in four days of fighting. latest incident began Sunday when Armenian and Azerbaijani troops exchanged fire in rrn section of ir border. Officials in both countries blamed each or for starting fighting and said that sporic shelling has continued.

Azerbaijan’s Defense Ministry said two senior officers, Maj. Gen. Pol Hashimov and Col. Ilgar Mirzayev, were killed in fighting Tuesday along with five or servicemen.

Armenian officials claimed that Azerbaijani drones launched an attack on Tuvush province town of Berd, targeting civilian infrastructure. Defense Ministry spokeswoman Shushan Stepanyan said that one of Azerbaijani drones was downed.

Azerbaijani military denied losing a drone and in turn claimed that its forces shot down an Armenian drone and destroyed an Armenian cann along with its crew.

As hostilities continued, Armenia also accused Azerbaijan of launching cyberattacks on Armenian government websites.Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on Monday accused Azerbaijan of provoking clashes and warned that it would “bear responsibility for unpredictable consequences.” Azerbaijani President Ilhan Aliyev deunced what he described as “ar provocation of Armenia” and vowed to protect Azerbaijan’s national territory.

Turkey, which has close ethnic and cultural ties with Azerbaijan, has voiced strong support to Baku in conflict. United States and Russia, which co-chair Minsk group of Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe that has tried to negotiate a settlement of Nagor-Karabakh conflict, have condemned violence and called for restraint.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov h separate calls with his counterparts in Armenia and Azerbaijan on Monday to call for an immediate ceasefire.Russian President Vlimir Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said Tuesday that Moscow was “deeply worried” about fighting and stands rey to play mediator.

(Im Credit: AP)