Armenian soldier killed in Azerbaijan’s rebel region

Erik Grigoryan, 20, died in a firefight with Azerbaijani commandos at around 0430, the Armenian Defense Ministry said.

Gigoryan was a resident of the village of Shaki in Armenia’s Syunik region. He had been recruited by the Armenian authorities and sent to serve in Azerbaijan’s occupied territory.

Azerbaijan’s Defense Ministry said on Friday "many” Armenian troops were killed while trying to attack Azerbaijani army positions. An Azerbaijani soldier was injured in the fight.

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.