Two soldiers from the breakaway region of Nagorny Karabakh have been killed and one injured by an Azerbaijani sniper, defense officials in the region reported.
Nagorny Karabakh, a breakaway region on Azerbaijani territory with a predominantly ethnic Armenian population, has remained in Armenian control since the late 1980s, when the region claimed independence from Azerbaijan to join Armenia. The conflict is estimated to have left more than 30,000 people dead on both sides between 1988 and 1994.
Shootouts at the border between Azerbaijan and Nagorny Karabakh are frequent, with Baku and Yerevan continuing to accuse each other of violating the ceasefire agreed in 1994.
Friday's shooting was the second case in two days when Azerbaijani snipers shot and killed soldiers in Nagorny Karabakh. Another soldier was killed by a bullet fired from the Azerbaijani territory on Thursday.
Russia, along with France and the United States, is a member of the OSCE Minsk Group, which is mediating efforts to resolve the conflict.
YEREVAN, April 30 (RIA Novosti)
