5 Killed in Clashes over Nagorno Karabakh
TEHRAN (Tasnim) - Azerbaijan said it has lost four troops in clashes with Armenia near the disputed Nagorno Karabakh region as mediators sounded the alarm over an increase in tensions in the protracted conflict.
The fresh confrontations, which also led to the death of an ethnic Armenian soldier, come after Azerbaijan said on Friday that eight troops had been killed in three days of fighting.
Russia and the US have both expressed concern over the violence, AFP reported.
The two former Soviet nations have been locked in a long-simmering conflict over Nagorno Karabakh.
The sudden surge in tensions in a region that has been on a knife-edge for years comes as Armenia's ally Russia is locked in a confrontation with the West over the future of Ukraine.
Armenian-backed separatists seized Nagorno Karabakh from Azerbaijan in a 1990s war that claimed 30,000 lives.
A leading Azeri military expert said earlier this week that Baku has not suffered such losses in a single bout of hostilities since 1994, when a ceasefire was agreed.
The defence ministry in Baku said Saturday: "Armenia's reconnaissance and sabotage groups once again tried to attack Azeri positions at the line of contact" near Nagorno Karabakh.
Azeri troops repelled the overnight attack, forcing Armenian soldiers to retreat, the defence ministry said.
"As a result of the clash, four Azeri troops died," the ministry said in a statement.
Authorities in Nagorno Karabakh for their part said a 25-year-old ethnic Armenian soldier had been killed, and accused Azerbaijan of trying to carry out "sabotage and reconnaissance activities".
They claimed three Azeri troops had been killed and seven were wounded.
