Tension increases in Karabakh conflict zone (Updated at 1630 GMT)

Updated at 1630 GMT adding the Armenian reaction

Tension has increaed significantly in the Karabakh conflict zone over the last forty-eight hours, as Armenia and Azerbaijan accuse each other of hundreds of cease fire violations.

Armenia said that one of its soldiers was killed on Saturday morning (17 June). He was named as twenty year old Narek Gasparian, who was serving with the military formations of the sellf-declared Nagorno-Karabakh Republic.

Earleir both Armenia and Azerbaijan reported casualties since Thursday. Azerbaijan said one of its soldiers was killed, and claimed that it had killed six Armenian soldiers. Armenia has reported four fatal casualties, also saying that two other soldiers were seriously injured. 

Neither side has given any detail of the incidents, but both the Foreign Ministry and the Defence Ministry of Azerbaijan have issued statments holding Armenia responsible for the hightened tension and increased violence. The Armenian Foreign Ministry in a statement said that the incidents were the result of the "flagrant violation of the ceasefire by the Azerbaijani armed forces".

source:commonspace.eu with agencies

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