Armenia, Azerbaijan clash leaves seven troops dead

ANKARA

Seven Armenian soldiers were killed in clashes between Azerbaijani and Armenian forces during the last one week, Azerbaijani Defense Ministry said in a statement on Saturday.

According to the ministry, Armenian forces allegedly violated the cease-fire 834 times with mortars and high-caliber weapons on the frontline along western Azerbaijan. In response to their attacks, Azeri forces targeted Armenian positions over 1,000 times, the statement added.

Many Armenian soldiers were also left wounded in the clashes, it noted.

Clashes between the two started in 1988 with the invasion of the Azerbaijani territory of Nagorno-Karabakh by Armenia, and later evolved into a full-fledged war in 1992.

Since the end of the war in 1994, Armenian and Azeri delegations have held talks over the status of Nagorno-Karabakh under the supervision of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe's Minsk Group.

Although a cease-fire was signed in 1994, clashes regularly occur along the border.