"As a result of the provocation committed by illegal Armenian formations during the morning of March 5, servicemen of the Azerbaijan Army Alibeyli Shakhriyar Ramiz and Huseynov Eshgin Jamil became Shehids," the Defense Ministry said, referring to their death on duty.
The Azeri Foreign Ministry said an Azeri military patrol was shot at when it tried to inspect an Armenian vehicle that was suspected of transporting weapons and landmines, in violation of the November 2020 truce that Russia brokered between the two nations.
Azerbaijan said Armenia was to blame for the bloodshed and demanded an immediate withdrawal of Armenian troops from what it considers as its territory.
The Armenian Foreign Ministry accused Azerbaijan of organizing an ambush that killed three police officers from the Interior Ministry's passport and visa department and denied arms smuggling claims as "disinformation."
Armenia said that Azeri forces shot at the police minivan as it was travelling south from Nagorno-Karabakh's main city of Stepanakert (Khankendi) to two villages near the Armenian border.