Death toll from Azerbaijan-Armenia border clash rises to five

An exchange of fire along the border between Armenia and Azerbaijan in the Nagorno-Karabakh region in the Caucasus left at least five dead on Sunday, officials said.

The countries have fought two wars that claimed thousands of lives for the control of Azerbaijan's Armenian-populated enclave of Karabakh.

“A sabotage group of the Azerbaijani armed forces opened fire on the car of a Passport and Visa Department of the police... three police officers were killed,” pro-Armenian separatist authorities said Sunday.

Azerbaijan's defense ministry denied that version, saying its forces were trying to stop vehicles carrying weapons when “Azerbaijani servicemen were fired at, as a result of the exchange of fire on both sides there are dead and wounded.”

It later said that two of its servicemen “became martyrs”.

Armenia's foreign ministry said Azerbaijan's version was “absurd” and resulted from a “provocation planned in advance and instructed by the top leadership”.