The Azerbaijani Ministry of Defense announced that a clash had occurred with Armenian forces in the disputed Karabakh region, which resulted in the death of two soldiers, while the Armenian authorities indicated that 3 Armenian policemen were killed and another wounded.
The ministry stated in a statement that in the morning hours, the Azerbaijani forces moved based on information that military equipment, ammunition and personnel were transferred from Armenia to Azerbaijani lands in the Karabakh region, in which Russian peace forces are temporarily deployed and the Armenian population lives, and clashes erupted when the passengers of a car opened fire. On Azerbaijani soldiers.
It later said that two of its soldiers were killed, adding that the accident occurred on a road linking the town of Lisagor (Turcho in Azerbaijani) to Stepanakert, the capital of the Armenian separatists.
For its part, the Armenian Foreign Ministry described the Azerbaijani explanations as "ridiculous", noting that no evidence of the transfer of weapons was presented.
According to the Armenian authorities in Karabakh, a group of "saboteurs" from the Azerbaijani army opened fire on a police car belonging to the separatist administration in the morning.
The authorities added - in a statement - that "3 policemen were killed," while another person was shot in the chest and taken to hospital.
In turn, the Azerbaijani Ministry of Defense denies the Armenian version.
Since mid-December, Azerbaijanis, who say they are environmental activists, have closed the vital road linking Armenia to Karabakh, known as the "Lachin Corridor", stressing that they are making their move in protest against illegal mines.
However, Yerevan asserts that Baku ordered the implementation of this closure, which is causing a humanitarian crisis in the separatist regions, as supplies have decreased.
Armenia and Azerbaijan fought a war to control Karabakh at the dissolution of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s, which resulted in 30,000 deaths, and ended with Armenia's victory.
Another conflict broke out in the fall of 2020, which lasted 44 days, killing 6,500 people, and allowing Baku to recover large swaths of land.
Russian peacekeepers deployed after reaching a cease-fire agreement mediated by Moscow that ended this war, but tension is still high at a time when there has been no progress in the negotiations on signing a peace treaty.