Azerbaijan repels Armenian attack, “many” killed in fighting

The enemy was forced to retreat, suffering heavy casualties, the ministry said in a statement on its website. An Azerbaijani soldier was injured in the fighting.

Two Azerbaijani servicemen were killed by Armenian fire in the past few days as Armenians are trying to ratchet up tensions amid the Turkey-Russia crisis, the ministry said.

Armenians seized nearly one-fifth of Azerbaijan’s internationally-recognized territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh, in a war after the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991.

While major hostilities ended with a cease-fire in 1994, no peace agreement has been signed.

Armenia continues the occupation of the Azerbaijani territory in defiance of four UN Security Council resolutions calling for immediate and unconditional withdrawal.