Troops 'killed in Caucasus clash'

By Tom Esslemont
BBC News, South Caucasus

Five Armenian soldiers have been shot dead in a ceasefire violation near the disputed region of Nagorno Karabakh, according to Azeri media reports.

Azerbaijan and Armenia went to war over the territory in the 1990s and a lasting resolution has not been found.

Azerbaijan has declined to confirm the shooting.

But three Azeri news agencies said the fighting took place in Aghdam district, near the front line which has remained in place since the war ended in 1994.

A spokesman for the Azeri defence ministry declined to comment, though one unnamed official confirmed to the BBC that there had been some shooting and that there were casualties.

The Karabakh Defence Ministry spokesman, Senor Hasratian, told the BBC that there had been gunfire overnight, but said that the reports in the Azeri media were false.

Aghdam is one of seven Azeri areas surrounding Nagorno Karabakh still held by Armenian forces. Azeri troops man trenches as little as 50 metres away.

Shootings occasionally interrupt the fragile ceasefire which has been in place ever since the conflict ended.

In January Azerbaijan, a major exporter of gas and oil, said three Armenian soldiers died in a similar incident.

An estimated 30,000 people were killed during the war and mediated negotiations to try to find a lasting resolution are ongoing.