Azerbaijan reports cross-border fire from Armenia for 3rd consecutive day

ISTANBUL

Azerbaijan on Tuesday reported cross-border fire against its military positions from Armenia for the third consecutive day.

An initial statement by the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry said its military positions were fired upon overnight by Armenian troops located near the settlements of Arpa, Saybali, and Vagan in the Keshishkend, Garakilseh, and Chenbarak regions, respectively.

The statement said the cross-border incident took place between 10.15 p.m. on Monday and 12.20 a.m. local time on Tuesday (1815GMT and 2020GMT).

It said in a later statement that Armenian forces near the Istisu settlement of the Basarkechar district also fired at Azerbaijani military positions at around 8.55 a.m. local time (0455GMT) on Tuesday.

Armenia's Defense Ministry issued a standard denial to both reports, claiming that they “do not correspond to reality.”

The latest reports marked the third consecutive day that Azerbaijan accused Armenia of firing at its military positions, less than a week after both countries separately announced an agreement on a draft peace deal, set to end a decades-long conflict and establish diplomatic ties between Baku and Yerevan.

Relations between the two former Soviet republics have been tense since 1991, when the Armenian military occupied Karabakh – a territory internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan – and seven adjacent regions.

Most of the territory was liberated by Azerbaijan during a 44-day war in the fall of 2020, which ended after a Russian-brokered peace agreement that opened the door to normalization and demarcation talks.

In September 2023, Azerbaijan established full sovereignty in Karabakh after separatist forces in the region surrendered.