ALBAWABA - Armenia and Azerbaijan have exchanged accusations of opening fire near their disputed borders, with Armenia saying that two of their soldiers of the forces deployed to the southern region of Siunik were killed.
Armenia's defense ministry said in a statement that "Units of the Azerbaijani armed forces discharged fire from small arms towards the Armenian combat positions in the vicinity of Nerkin Hand (village) on Tuesday,".
The statement further specified that two soldiers were killed during the exchange of fire. However, Azerbaijan's border guards said this was a "response" to a "provocation" by Armenian soldiers on Monday, which Baku said injured one Azerbaijani soldier.
According to Azerbaijan's defense ministry, Armenian forces opened fire twice late Monday on Kokhanabi village in the northeastern Tovuz area.
Armenia refuted the charge, stating the notion that its forces had twice "fired against the direction of Azerbaijani positions situated in the northeastern part of the border, does not align with reality".
The border flare-up occurred just after Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev was re-elected for a fifth term to lead the gas-rich Central Asian country.
His triumph was predictable given his country's historic victory over Armenian insurgents last year. Aliyev is accused of attempting to seize control of Armenia's Siunik area in order to connect Azerbaijan to the exclave of Nakhchivan, which is bordered by both Iran and Turkey.
According to Azerbaijani election officials, President Ilham Aliyev won his fifth straight term with more than 92% of the vote.
However, foreign observers think he faced no significant resistance. The main competing parties boycotted the election, with one opposition leader calling it an "imitation of democracy".
The vote was originally scheduled for 2025, but a quick election was called after the government took control of an area held by ethnic Armenian rebels.
