Armenia says 3 soldiers killed in gun battle with Azeri forces

Both countries report escalation and blame the other side for initiating the deadly border clashes.

Armenia has said three of its soldiers were killed and two wounded in border clashes with Azerbaijani forces in some of the heaviest fighting between the two neighbours since last year’s six-week war over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region. In separate statements on Wednesday, the defence ministries of both countries blamed the other side for initiating the clashes. Armenia’s defence ministry said an intense gun battle had taken place near the village of Sotk close to the border with Azerbaijan’s Kelbajar region, one of those Baku reclaimed after the war that claimed some 6,500 lives.