Second Armenian soldier killed in clash with Azerbaijan

"On April 7 (Tuesday), a soldier was shot dead on the Karabakh frontline by an Azerbaijani sniper," the separatist region`s defence ministry said in a statement.

Another Armenian soldier had been killed on Tuesday in a clash on the border between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

The latest death takes the number of people reported killed on both sides this year to 25.

Yerevan-backed ethnic Armenian separatists seized control of Karabakh and another seven adjacent districts of Azerbaijan during the conflict that left some 30,000 dead.

Despite years of negotiations, the two sides have not signed a final peace deal following a shaky 1994 truce, and Armenian-populated Karabakh is still internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan.

However, Karabakh`s ethnic-Azeri community -- around a quarter of the population before the war -- was entirely driven out.

Baku, whose military spending exceeds Armenia`s entire state budget, has threatened to take back the territories by force if negotiations fail to yield results.