Azerbaijani forces have shot down an Armenian drone, said Azerbaijan's Defense Ministry on Thursday.

The ministry said in a statement that an Armenian X-55 drone had been detected flying over the front line between Azerbaijani and Armenian forces.

The incident follows fighting last week which broke out between Azerbaijani troops and ethnic Armenian forces in occupied Karabakh, the worst since a peace deal was struck in 1994 following the conflict over the Azerbaijani enclave.

Armenian militia has occupied Azerbaijan's Karabakh region since 1993, similar to how pro-Russian militia have illegally occupied parts of Ukraine since 2014.

Three UN Security Council resolutions (853, 874 and 884) and UN General Assembly resolutions 19/13 and 57/298 refer to Karabakh as being part of Azerbaijan.

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) also refers to the territory as being under the occupation of Armenian forces.