Several dead in a clash between Armenians and Azerbaijanis

Baku, August 1, 2014 (AFP) – A clash between Azerbaijani and Armenian forces killed several people in the border area, close to the Nagorno-Karabakh fought over by the two countries for decades, announced Friday the Azerbaijani Ministry of Defense. “Groups of diversion from Armenia attempted to cross the front line” in the night of Thursday to Friday, the ministry said in a statement.

“Following an intense firefight Armenian soldiers were forced back, suffering losses. The Azerbaijani army also suffered losses, “he said, without elaborating. According to the news agency APA azerbaïjdanaise, known for its close links with the government, eight Azerbaijani soldiers were killed in the clash. The Ministry of Defence has neither confirmed nor denied that figure. For their part, the Armenian forces said they killed 14 Azerbaijani soldiers during the attachment, accusing them of attempting to illegally cross the border, and ensuring not have suffered any loss on their side.

In addition, two Azerbaijani soldiers were killed Thursday in another shootout in the border area between Azerbaijan and Armenia, as the Azerbaijani Ministry of Defense. The clashes are increasing in recent months around Nagorno-Karabakh, both sides accusing each other of launching attacks that have killed more than 14 soldiers this year before this new confrontation.

Last year, nearly 20 soldiers on both sides had been killed during clashes at the border.

Attached to Azerbaijan during the Soviet era, this separatist region Armenian majority was the issue of a war that has 30,000 dead and hundreds of thousands of refugees between 1988 and 1994. A cease-fire was signed in 1994, but Baku and Yerevan are unable to agree on the status of the region, which remains a source of tension in the South Caucasus, a strategic area between Iran, Russia and Turkey.