Azeri-Armenian truce broken as 2 more killed

Two ethnic Armenian troops died in fighting with Azerbaijani forces April 8 as the foes accused each other of breaching a cease-fire that halted the worst outbreak of violence in decades over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region.

The latest clashes are the first serious violation of a Moscow-mediated cease-fire which took effect on April 5, ending several days of fighting over the Karabakh region that claimed at least 90 lives.

The unrest has sparked concern of a wider conflict in the strategic area that could drag in regional powers Russia and Turkey.

"Azerbaijan violated a cease-fire overnight" using mortars to shell ethnic Armenian rebel positions in Karabakh, the territory's Defense Ministry said in a statement, adding that two soldiers were killed.

Armenia accused Azerbaijan of shelling both military and civilian targets on the border.

"The Armenian villages of Karmir, Ttudjur, and Baganis came under Azerbaijani fire," ministry spokesman Artsrun Hovhannisyan said in a statement.

Azerbaijan, a mostly Muslim former Soviet republic, said it returned fire after Armenian forces shelled its positions in Karabakh.

"Azerbaijani armed forces responded to Armenian artillery strikes," Defense Ministry spokesman Vagif Dargahly said. "Civilian targets [in Azerbaijan] were also shelled by the Armenian forces."

Later in the day, Azerbaijan and Armenian-backed separatists said they had struck a temporary deal to allow each side to safely search for the bodies of their soldiers killed in clashes over Nagorno-Karabakh.

An official at the Armenian Defense Ministry used social media to post the names and photographs of 44 separatist soldiers who he said were killed in the clashes since April 2. 
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