Azerbaijan captures six Armenian troops on border

An Armenian border position (file pic) - tension remains high

Azeri troops have captured six Armenian soldiers on Armenia's border, officials say - the latest incident in continuing tensions since war erupted last year.

Both sides confirmed the incident in Kalbajar region, which lies just west of disputed Nagorno-Karabakh.

Armenia's defence ministry said the six were doing engineering work. Azerbaijan said they had tried to mine supply routes near Azeri army positions.

Azerbaijan made big gains in Nagorno-Karabakh before a November peace deal.

The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict in the Caucasus mountains flared up again last September for six weeks. Fighting in the 1990s left Armenia controlling the disputed territory. Internationally, Nagorno-Karabakh is recognised as part of Azerbaijan.

Azerbaijan's defence ministry said that on Thursday its troops had taken six prisoners by surrounding an Armenian "sabotage" group near a village called Yukhari Ayrim, in Azeri-held Kalbajar. Two groups had been detected and some of the Armenians had escaped, the foreign ministry in Baku added.

The Armenians said the six soldiers had not crossed the border before they were captured.

Earlier this month Armenia accused Azerbaijani troops of encroaching 3.5km (two miles) inside Armenian territory in Gegharkunik, a region adjacent to Kalbajar. The Armenian authorities said urgent security talks had prevented Azerbaijan from occupying that part of Armenia.

In the same area an exchange of fire killed an Armenian soldier on Tuesday, the Armenian military said. Azerbaijan denied the allegation, calling it an accident.

• Why did Armenia and Azerbaijan go to war?

The peace deal was brokered by Russia after six weeks of fighting last year, in which an estimated 6,000 people died. About 2,000 Russian peacekeepers are now patrolling in and around Nagorno-Karabakh.