Yerevan Accuses Baku of Shelling Armenia's Border Positions

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The Armenian Defense Ministry has accused the Azerbaijani armed forces of shelling Armenia's combat positions located on the border between the two countries.

"On March 9, at around 5:50 p.m. [13:50 GMT], the units of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces opened fire from different caliber firearms towards the Armenian combat positions located in the direction of [the village of] Verin Shorzha [in the Gegharkunik province]," the ministry said in a statement released on Thursday.

As a result of the shelling, Armenia suffered no losses, the department said, adding that the situation on the front line was relatively stable.

The Azerbaijani Defense Ministry denied Yerevan's accusations of shelling Armenia's border positions.

"The information spread by the Armenian side about the Azerbaijani army's alleged shelling of Armenian armed forces' positions in the direction of the village of Yukhary Shorja [in the Gegharkunik province] on March 9 does not correspond to reality. We categorically deny this information," the ministry said in a statement.

Earlier on Thursday, the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry accused the Armenian armed forces of shelling Azerbaijani military positions on the border and in the Nagorno-Karabakh region. The Armenian military denied the allegations and called it another disinformation.

The South Caucasus is considered one of the world's most conflict-ridden regions, primarily due to the long-standing conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh region (also known as the self-proclaimed Republic of Artsakh). In September 2022, the world saw a new outbreak of hostilities between Yerevan and Baku in an area unrelated to Nagorno-Karabakh, the most serious escalation since the 2020 events. In 2022, Yerevan and Baku, mediated by Russia, US, and EU, began discussing a future peace treaty.