1 Armenian soldier killed, 1 injured in fight near Karabakh

The attack was repelled, and the enemy suffered casualties before retreating, the ministry said in a statement on its website.

The "defense army” of the separatist region of Nagorno-Karabakh said it lost a serviceman, Naapet Asatryan, 32, in the clashes. Another Armenian soldier, Hovhannes Gasparyan, 41, was injured.

Armenia captured nearly one-fifth of Azerbaijan’s internationally-recognized territory in a war after the Soviet breakup in 1991.

Although major hostilities ended with a ceasefire in 1994, no peace agreement has been signed.

Armenia defied four UN Security Council resolutions calling for immediate and unconditional withdrawal from the occupied territory.

Azerbaijan says it reserves the right to use military force to regain control of the territory should peace talks mediated by Russia, the US and France fail.