Clash follows biggest flare-up in fighting on border since 1994 ceasefire ended war over disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region

This article is more than 5 years old

This article is more than 5 years old

Azerbaijani forces have shot down an Armenian military helicopter, the defence ministry in Baku said, in a flare-up in the longstanding conflict over the Nagorno-Karabakh region.

The downing on Wednesday follows fighting three months ago in which at least 14 Azerbaijani soldiers died. The clashes, which began in late July, marked the most serious military incident along the Karabakh frontier since the 1994 ceasefire that ended a bloody conflict over the disputed region.

Azerbaijan’s defence ministry said: “On November 12 an Mi-24 combat helicopter attempted to attack positions of the Azerbaijani army near [Karabakh’s] Agdam district. The helicopter has been shot down by [the] Azerbaijani army,” it said, adding that the debris fell on Karabakh territory.

Armenian media said three crew members had died.

Separatist authorities in Karabakh said a firefight began after the incident and was continuing.

The separatist defence ministry in Karabakh said that their helicopter had been shot down by Azerbaijani forces “while conducting a training flight as part of military drills”.

It said: “The enemy continues to intensively fire in the direction of the incident’s site with different calibre small arms.”

Azerbaijan considers Karabakh to be illegally occupied since separatist authorities, backed by Armenia, seized control of the region in fighting that left an estimated 30,000 dead.