Two Dead in Armenia-Azerbaijan Clashes despite Ceasefire

Local Editor

Two ethnic Armenian troops died in fighting with Azerbaijani forces Friday as the arch foes accused each other of breaching a ceasefire that halted the worst outbreak of violence in decades over a disputed breakaway region.

The latest clashes are the first serious violation of a Moscow-mediated ceasefire that ended Tuesday the worst outbreak of fighting over the disputed mountainous region of Nagorny Karabakh since it was captured from Azerbaijan by Armenian separatists in the early 1990s.

"Azerbaijan violated a ceasefire overnight... using mortars" to shell ethnic Armenian rebel positions in Karabakh, the separatist defense ministry said in a statement.

One Karabakh soldier was killed in the northern sector of the frontline near Talysh, another one was fatally wounded at the northeastern sector," it said.

The Armenian defense ministry said Azerbaijan shelled both military and civilian targets on the border.

"The Armenian villages of Karmir, Ttudjur, and Baganis came under Azerbaijani fire," ministry spokesman Artsrun Hovhannisyan said in a statement.

Azerbaijan said it returned fire after Armenian forces shelled its positions in Karabakh.

"Azerbaijani armed forces responded to Armenian artillery strikes," defense ministry spokesman Vagif Dargahly said.

At least 77 people from all sides, mainly servicemen, have been reported killed since a simmering feud exploded into the worst outbreak of violence in decades on April 2, prompting both Russia and the West to call on the warring sides for an immediate truce.

Armenia dismissed the claims as "untrue".

Armenia-backed separatists seized control of Nagorny Karabakh, a majority ethnic Armenian region inside Azerbaijan, in a war that claimed some 30,000 lives. .

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team