An Azerbaijani and two Armenian troops were killed in clashes in and around the Armenian-occupied Azerbaijani region of Nagorno-Karabakh in the past few days.

Armenian private Movses Gasparyan was shot dead by Azerbaijani soldiers in the south-east of Nagorno-Karabakh on June 11, Armenian media said.

Another Armenian army officer was killed in a clash with an Azerbaijani “reconnaissance and sabotage group” in Kalbacar District. An Azerbaijani soldier also died in the fighting, according to the reports.

Azerbaijan’s Defense Ministry denied dispatching any troops to occupied Kalbacar, which is sandwiched between Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia.

Armenia occupied nearly one-fifth of Azerbaijan’s internationally-recognized territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding districts, in a war in the early 1990s.

It has yet to pull out of the territory despite four UN Security Council resolutions calling for immediate and unconditional withdrawal. 

Large-scale hostilities ended with a ceasefire in 1994 but no peace agreement has been signed.

Azerbaijan has vowed to use military force to regain control of the territory should peace efforts fail.

Bakudaily.az