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TBILISI (Reuters) – Armenia and Azerbaijan accused each other of opening fire on Friday night, breaking a fragile ceasefire agreement that ended the worst fighting between the two ex-Soviet countries since 2020 last week.
In statements issued through the two defense ministries on Friday morning, Baku and Yerevan accused the other side of firing first in new clashes along their shared border.
After two days of fighting that killed some two hundred infantrymen early last week, the two sides agreed to a ceasefire, brokered through Russia, to end hostilities, although the scenario on the border remained tense.
“On September 23, at 07:40 (03:40 GMT), sets of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces violated the ceasefire regime by firing from other positions against Armenian combat positions in the eastern domain of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border,” the Armenian said. the Defense Ministry said in a statement. A Facebook post on Friday.
“The enemy’s fire suppressed through retaliatory actions,” Armenia added, without reporting casualties.
Shortly after the Armenian declaration, Azerbaijan’s Defense Ministry issued a response, saying that Armenia opened fire first.
Baku said the Armenian armed forces opened fire on 3 other spaces of the border not unusual, “intermittently shelling the positions of the Azerbaijani armed forces with small arms of mixed caliber” during a nine-hour period that began at 11:45 p. m. (19:45 GMT) on Thursday night.
In a post on messaging app Telegram, Azerbaijan’s Defense Ministry also said it had taken “appropriate retaliatory measures. “
Fighting between the two sides erupted earlier this month in clashes that left nearly two hundred foot soldiers dead, the bloodiest since a six-week war between the two ex-Soviet countries in 2020.
The fighting is linked to decades-old hostilities in the Nagorno-Karabakh region, worldwide identified as part of Azerbaijan but until 2020 largely led by Armenia’s majority population.
Armenia said Azerbaijan had attacked its territory and seized settlements within its borders, beyond the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region. Azerbaijan said it was responding to “provocations” from the Armenian side.
Russia is the best friend of Armenia’s military, but it also tries to maintain friendly relations with Azerbaijan and has resisted Yerevan’s calls to promote a mutual self-defense clause. Baku has military support, best financial friend and best political friend through Turkey.
(Reporting via Jake Cordell; Editing by Clarence Fernandez and Raissa Kasolowsky)