AFP , Friday 1 Sep 2023

Armenia said that two of its servicemen were killed and one wounded on Friday after Azerbaijan fired at its positions near the town of Sotk, close to the border.

Tensions between Baku and Yerevan have escalated sharply in recent months, as both sides accuse the other of violating agreements and cross-border gunfire.

“As a result of firing by the Azerbaijani army in the direction of Armenian positions located in the Sotk area, there are two dead and one wounded on the Armenian side,” Armenia’s defence ministry said.

The incident marks another setback to the tenuous peace process between the two ex-Soviet republics, which have for decades been locked in a bitter dispute over the region of Nagorno-Karabakh.

Yerevan and Baku have fought two wars for control over the region, which is internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan but largely populated by ethnic Armenians.

The two sides have been unable to reach a lasting peace settlement despite mediation efforts by the European Union, United States and Russia.

Azerbaijan accused Armenia of building up troops along the two countries’ volatile borders in August, while Armenia accused Azerbaijan’s military of opening fire on European Union observers.

Separatist authorities in the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh said in June that four Armenian soldiers were killed by Azerbaijani fire in Nagorno-Karabakh.