Azerbaijani Troops Kill Armenian Karabakh Soldier

An ethnic Armenian soldier from the separatist Nagorny Karabakh region was killed Tuesday by Azerbaijani troops in a fresh clash along the breakaway region's frontier, the rebel authorities said.

"Serviceman Arsen Karapetyan, 20, was mortally wounded when Azerbaijani forces violated the ceasefire at the Karabakh frontline," Karabakh's defence ministry said in a statement.

Azerbaijan and Armenia are locked in a decades-long conflict over Nagorny Karabakh, a breaway ethnic Armenian region.

Despite years of negotiations, the two sides have not signed a final peace deal, with Karabakh internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan.

Clashes between Azerbaijani and Armenian forces intensified again in January following an unprecedented spiral of violence last year.

At least 15 people from both sides were reported killed and 18 wounded this year in similar incidents on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border, and along the Karabakh frontline.

Ethnic Armenian separatists backed by Yerevan seized control of Karabakh and seven adjacent districts of Azerbaijan during a 1990s war that left some 30,000 dead.

Baku, whose military spending exceeds Armenia's entire state budget, has threatened to take back the territories by force if negotiations fail to yield results.

Armenia, which is heavily armed by Russia, says it could crush any offensive.