The two countries accuse each other of opening fire around the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh, resulting in deaths.
Armenia and Azerbaijan accused the other of starting an exchange of fire over the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh, which resulted in deaths on both sides.
And the defense ministries of the two countries issued statements on Tuesday afternoon saying that an unspecified number of their soldiers were killed in a clash near the disputed Lachin Pass.
The positions of the Armenian army spread out near the settlement of Dej [at the countries’ shared border] The defense ministry in Baku said in a statement that Azerbaijani forces “retaliated fire”.
“There are dead and wounded among the Azerbaijani forces,” the statement said, without specifying the number of dead and wounded.
The Armenian Ministry of Defense also reported an unspecified number of casualties, blaming Baku for initiating the exchange of fire.
“At 16:00 (12:00 GMT) on Tuesday, the Azerbaijani armed forces opened fire towards Armenian soldiers who were doing engineering work” near the border, the ministry said.
“According to preliminary information, there are dead and wounded on the Armenian side.”
The two South Caucasian nations — both once part of the Soviet Union — have fought multiple wars over the past 35 years over control of Nagorno-Karabakh, which is internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan but home to an ethnic Armenian population.
Russia sent a peacekeeping force of thousands of soldiers to the region in 2020 as part of a deal to end weeks of fighting that killed thousands and saw Azerbaijan make significant territorial gains.
Moscow is an ally of Armenia through a mutual self-defense pact, but it has also tried to maintain good relations with Baku.
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev held several rounds of peace talks mediated by the European Union and the United States.
Last month, Pashinyan noted some progress in the peace process, but said “fundamental problems” remain because “Azerbaijan is trying to put forward territorial claims, which is a red line for Armenia.”
In February, the European Union deployed an expanded monitoring mission to the Armenian side of the border as Western involvement in an area traditionally considered the Kremlin’s sphere of influence increases.
When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, separatist Armenians in Karabakh separated from Azerbaijan. The ensuing conflict killed about 30,000 people.