Azerbaijan says military positions in Nakhchivan came under Armenian fire

Azerbaijan said Thursday that its military positions in the autonomous Nakhchivan exclave came under fire from neighboring Armenia.

The Defense Ministry said positions near the settlement of Lakatagh, located about 8 kilometers (5 miles) from the border, were fired upon by Armenian forces at around 4.10 p.m. local time (1210GMT).

"Response measures were taken in the mentioned direction by units of our army," it said in a statement.

Armenia's Defense Ministry later said the statement issued by Baku "doesn't correspond to reality."

Before the shooting, Azerbaijan last reported that its military positions were fired upon on Sept. 12.

Relations between Baku and Yerevan have been tense since 1991 when the Armenian military occupied Karabakh -- a territory internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, and seven adjacent regions.

Most of the territory was liberated by Azerbaijan during a 44-day war in the fall of 2020, which ended after a Russian-brokered peace agreement that opened the door to normalization and the demarcation of their border.

In September 2023, Azerbaijan established full sovereignty in Karabakh following an "anti-terrorist operation" after which separatist forces in the region surrendered.