Armenia reports three soldiers killed, two wounded, and Azerbaijan one soldier killed following fresh border clashes.

The fighting took place on the Gegharkunik-Kalbajar section of the Armenia-Azerbaijan border and began on 11 January. 

Both countries accused the other side of opening fire first and breaching the ceasefire. The Armenian Ministry of Defence also accused Azerbaijan of using artillery and suicide drones.

The Armenian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has framed the incident as a ‘manifestation’ of the ‘continuous encroachments of Azerbaijan on the territorial integrity of Armenia’. The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry, meanwhile, has blamed the ‘political-military leadership’ of Armenia for the ‘bloody provocation’.

According to the latest statement from the Azerbaijani Defence Ministry released on 12 January, the Armenian military fired upon Azerbaijani positions on the night of 11 January and the morning of 12 January with ‘small arms and large-calibre machine guns’. No further deaths or injuries were reported. 

On 10 January, authorities in Nagorno-Karabakh reported that the Azerbaijani military fired at ‘civilians and civilian objects’ in the Martuni (Khojavend) region. 

According to a recent report by the International Crisis Group, 94 people, including one Russian peacekeeper, have been killed in Nagorno Karabakh and on the Armenia-Azerbaijan border since the 10 November 2020 ceasefire agreement that brought an end to the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War.

For ease of reading, we choose not to use qualifiers such as ‘de facto’, ‘unrecognised’, or ‘partially recognised’ when discussing institutions or political positions within Abkhazia, Nagorno-Karabakh, and South Ossetia. This does not imply a position on their status.