On Tuesday, Armenia reported that four of its soldiers were killed by Azerbaijani fire along the heavily fortified border, marking the first fatal incident since negotiations began to end over 30 years of intermittent conflict last year.
The closed, approximately 1,000 km frontier has seen frequent fatal exchanges since the 1988 war over the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh. However, the situation had recently eased amid peace talks. Tuesday’s incident was the most significant since Azerbaijan reclaimed Karabakh in September, resulting in the displacement of the region’s ethnic Armenian population.
Armenia’s Defence Ministry stated that the four soldiers were killed, and another was wounded at a combat post near the southern Armenian village of Nerkin Hand. Azerbaijan’s border service countered, claiming it conducted a “revenge operation” in response to a supposed provocation by Armenian forces the day before. Azerbaijan held Armenia’s military and political leadership responsible for the incident and warned of more serious measures in response to future provocations.
Azerbaijan’s Defence Ministry asserted that Armenian forces fired at Baku’s positions along a northwestern section of the border on Monday evening, approximately 400 km from Nerkin Hand. Armenia denied the incident. Armenian ambassador-at-large Edmon Marukyan accused Azerbaijan of “criminal, aggressive behavior,” asserting that Baku sought a pretext to attack Armenian forces.
While formally allied with Armenia, the Kremlin, which also maintains close ties with Azerbaijan, called for restraint from both sides. Russian peacekeeping forces remain in Karabakh, and its border guards assist in patrolling Armenia’s frontiers.
The Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan, with a predominantly ethnic Armenian population, gained de facto independence after a prolonged war during the Soviet Union’s collapse. In September, Azerbaijan swiftly recaptured Karabakh, prompting the rapid exodus of almost all of the territory’s 120,000 Armenians. Both sides express a desire to sign a peace treaty but disagree on issues such as the precise demarcation of their border and control over several small territorial enclaves.
Azerbaijan also seeks a customs-free transport corridor through Armenian territory, connecting Azerbaijan’s mainland with its Nakhichevan exclave. Armenia insists on retaining control over any transport links on its soil. Despite both parties expressing interest in a peace deal, talks have stagnated in recent months, with mutual accusations of sabotaging the diplomatic process.
