ISLAMABAD: Azerbaijan has accused Armenia of opening fire on its military positions along the Caucasus archrivals’ shared border and in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh over which Yerevan and Baku have fought two wars.
The claims came a day after Armenia’s Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan complained to Russia’s President Vladimir Putin of “problems” with Russian peacekeepers in the Nagorno-Karabakh region and warned of an escalation in the tense region.
Azerbaijan’s defense ministry said that its army positions came under fire by the Armenian military at the border overnight.
No human loss was reported.
The statement said there was also a shootout from firearms of “different types” in Karabakh, and that the Azerbaijani forces have taken adequate steps in response.
Armenian defense ministry brushed aside the reports as “disinformation”.
Decades-long border dispute
Both countries have been embroiled in a decades-long dispute for control of the Armenian-majority Nagorno-Karabakh region. The latest conflict in 2020, from which Azerbaijan emerged victorious, ended with the deployment of Russian forces to keep the peace.
Pashinyan said on Tuesday that he had recently spoken to Vladimir Putin of an expected escalation in the Nagorno-Karabakh region and said that there are issues in the zone where Moscow’s peacekeepers are responsible.
At least 3 Armenians died in the latest border clashes in the early days of this month.
Pashinyan has also criticized Baku’s ongoing blockade of the so-called Lachin corridor which is Karabakh’s sole land link with Armenia.
Armenia has claimed that the blockade has caused a humanitarian crisis and was a “preparation for ethnic cleansing of Armenian people.” Baku has denied the allegations.
On 20 February, the European Union (EU) deployed an expanded monitoring mission to Armenia’s unstable border area as Western engagement increases in the region, the traditional sphere of Kremlin’s influence.
