The ministry reported the first two casualties in the morning when it said its troops deployed near the border village of Sotk in Armenia’s eastern Gegharkunik province came under “intensive” cross-border fire. The Azerbaijani side is also using mortars to strike the Armenian army positions there, it said, adding that “the intensity of the gunfire” eased by 11:20 a.m. local time.
The ministry reported renewed Azerbaijani mortar and automatic fire early in the afternoon. Azerbaijani troops are also targeting Armenian positions near Norabak, another Gegharkunik close to Sotk, it said.
“Armenian army units are taking necessary defensive measures,” read a fresh ministry statement.
The Azerbaijani military said, meanwhile, that it is taking “retaliatory actions” after three of its soldiers were wounded by Armenian forces. The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry issued a statement accusing Yerevan of heightening tensions along the border to mislead the international community.
Baku repeatedly accused the Armenian side of violating the ceasefire in the same area on Thursday. The Armenian Defense Ministry dismissed the “disinformation,” saying that it is aimed at justifying “yet another provocation.”
The Sotk area has been one of the most volatile sections of the long Armenian-Azerbaijani border since the 2020 war in Nagorno-Karabakh. Deadly fighting raged there for several consecutive days in early May.
Armenia’s largest gold mine located near Sotk halted production operations in April due to systematic cross-border gunfire targeting its workers and production facilities. The village was shelled by the Azerbaijani army and sustained heavy damage during more large-scale clashes that broke out at this and other border sections in September 2022.