Update 1 - 16.00 GMT on Friday, 30 December
Armenia claims it has killed another Azerbaijani soldier. The claim was afain made on the facebook page of the spokesperson of the Armenian Defence Ministry, Artsrun Hovhannesian, and reported widely in the Armenian media.
Azerbaijan earlier dismissed reports that it had lost four soldiers overnight, and continues to claim that the incidents in the international border that started on Thursday morning were provoked by Armenia.
Commonspace.eu is not in a position to confirm any of the information being disseminated by the sides.
In the meantime Azerbaijan has slammed the statement made yesterday by the Secretary General of the Collective Security Treaty Organisation, Nikolai Bordyuzha. In a toughly worded statement the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan said,
"In connection with the armed incident, the Secretary General of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), Nikolai Bordyuzha, by exceeding his powers and distorting the essence of the incident, made a statement alleging that it took place on the territory of Armenia," the Azerbaijani foreign ministry said. "Besides, he called the so-called regime, established in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan, the "Nagorno-Karabakh Republic" and attempted to overshadow on the territorial integrity, sovereignty and internationally recognized borders of Azerbaijan."
"This irresponsible statement made by the CSTO secretary general undermines the negotiation process on the settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, mediated by the OSCE Minsk Group, as well as runs contrary to the fundamental principles of relations with other member states of the organization supporting Azerbaijan's sovereignty and territorial integrity," the ministry added.#
APA news agency said that "the Azerbaijani foreign ministry rejected Bordyuzha's irresponsible statement, calling on other CSTO countries to comment on it."
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Armenia overnight retaliated following yesterday's clashes near the village of Chinar in the Tavush region on the Armenia-Azerbaijan international border, inflicting four casualties on its Azerbaijani opponent. This was stated in a facebook entry on the page of the spokesperson of the Ministry of Defence of Armenia, Artsrun Hovhannisyan.
"The logical development of the Azerbaijani provocation on Thursday took place tonight. The Armenian army divisions carried out retaliatory actions, and as a result, the adversary suffered four more casualties", Armenian media reported Hovhanessian as posting.
According to Armenian claims up to eleven Azerbaijani soldiers have been killed since yesterday, but Azerbaijan has only admitted loosing one soldier.
Azerbaijan denies loosing any troops overnight.
source: commonspace.eu with agencies
photo; The Ministry of Defence of Armenia in Yerevan (archive picture).
