Armenia and Azerbaijan Say No New Clashes on Border

Defence officials in Armenia and Azerbaijan said there had been no new fighting on their border overnight Wednesday, after several days of deadly clashes raised fears of a major flare-up.

At least 16 people from both sides were killed in three days of fighting that started Sunday between the ex-Soviet republics, which have been locked for decades in a conflict over Azerbaijan's separatist region of Nagorny Karabakh.

The territory was seized by ethnic Armenian separatists in a 1990s war that claimed 30,000 lives, though this week's fighting took place on the two countries' northern border, far from Karabakh. 

Armenian defence ministry spokeswoman Sushan Stepanyan said Wednesday that the situation on the border was "calm overnight," while the foreign ministry in Yerevan said clashes had ended around midnight.

Azerbaijan's defence ministry also said that "military action halted at midnight".

Eleven Azerbaijan troops and one civilian have been killed in the clashes, as well as four Armenian troops, according to the two countries.

The fighting had prompted calls for an immediate ceasefire from the United States, European Union and regional power broker Russia.

Internationally mediated peace talks between the two Caucasus nations have so far failed to bring about a solution to the territorial dispute.

Energy-rich Azerbaijan, whose military spending exceeds Armenia's entire state budget, has repeatedly threatened to restore control over Karabakh by force. Armenia has vowed to crush any military offensive.

In a statement emailed to Naharnet, the Embassy of Azerbaijan in Lebanon quoted Azerbaijan's presidential aide Hikmat Hajiyev as saying that “the provocation by Armenia, perpetrated along the border, is yet another evidence that the official Yerevan is disinterested in the negotiated settlement of the conflict.”

“The armed forces of Armenia had flagrantly violated the ceasefire regime and used artillery mounts to fire on the positions of Azerbaijan’s armed forces in the direction of Tovuz district, along the state border between Armenia and Azerbaijan,” Hajiyev said.

“The armed forces of Azerbaijan responded with counterfire and launched counteroffensive measures, preventing the advancement of the Armenian armed forces,” he added.

Hajiyev also called upon the international community to strongly condemn “Armenia’s policy of occupation against Azerbaijan and its provocative actions perpetrated along the border,” adding that “Armenia's leadership bears full and sole responsibility for the current situation.”