The Armenian side said approximately five Azerbaijani soldiers attacked Armenian premises in the Nagorno-Karabakh region and that they fought off Azerbaijani “sabotage.” The Armenian side said at least one Azerbaijani soldier was killed and several others wounded in a deadly clash in which land mines were set off. The skirmish took place in the same region as the previous skirmish earlier this week.Three Armenian and two Azerbaijani soldiers were killed in an exchange of gunfire along the northern Nagorno-Karabakh frontline on Tuesday in the previous skirmish.
Armenia, however, dismissed the Azerbaijani statement on Wednesday, saying that two Azerbaijani soldiers were killed and an Armenian soldier wounded. The two countries disagree on the number of casualties as a matter of domestic politics and refuse to admit they attacked first, as Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe’s (OSCE) Minsk Group-brokered peace talks continue.
Azerbaijan’s Defense Ministry confirmed on Saturday that one of its soldiers had been killed but said the attack was initiated by the Armenian side and set off a heavy exchange of gunfire. Private Azerbaijani television station ANS TV reported on Saturday that a wounded Azerbaijani soldier later died in the hospital.
Ahmed Abdullayev, 34, was laid to rest on Sunday in his hometown of Jalilabad and was portrayed as a hero who was trying to save his soldier friends from an Armenian attack. The corpse of another dead Azerbaijani soldier, the Azerbaijani side said, might have been seized by Armenian forces.
More than a decade of mediation led by Russia, France and the United States has failed to produce a final peace deal, and Azerbaijan has said it may use force to try to regain control of Nagorno-Karabakh. Tension has increased since Armenia and its traditional foe Turkey, which has close ties with Azerbaijan, reached a historic rapprochement last year.
