Tensions flared again in the South Caucasus after Azerbaijan on Sunday accused Armenia of firing on its military positions 16 times over the course of nearly four hours a day earlier.
A statement by the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry said Armenia fired on its positions in the Gadabay, Kalbajar and Lachin districts between 6.30 p.m. and 10.05 p.m. (2:30 p.m. and 6:05 p.m. GMT).
"Azerbaijan Army Units took adequate retaliatory measures in all the mentioned directions," the statement said.
A day earlier, Azerbaijan said Armenia on Friday fired on its military positions in the Dashkasan, Kalbajar, Lachin and Tovuz districts 30 times.
The exchange of fire comes as the South Caucasus rivals struggle to hatch a peace treaty to end decades of hostilities.
Border tensions have been steadily increasing between the sides, however, most notably on Feb. 12, when Baku said one of its soldiers was injured due to shots fired by Armenian forces toward the country's southwestern Zangilan district.
Last year, Azerbaijan carried out a lightning military operation in Karabakh that saw Baku recapture the mountainous enclave from Armenian separatist forces who had controlled it for three decades.
In the aftermath, the entire Armenian population fled Karabakh for Armenia.
In December, the South Caucasus neighbors issued a joint statement saying they wanted to reach a peace deal. They have since held numerous talks, including two days of negotiations in Berlin in February. But Baku often laments “Western bias” in negotiations, namely from pro-Armenian nations like France and Germany.
Christian Armenia and mostly Muslim Azerbaijan went to war twice over the breakaway region of Karabakh, occupied by its ethnic Armenian majority since the 1990s despite being internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan.
The sides first fought in 1988 and again in the fall of 2020, ending after a Russian-brokered peace agreement that also opened the door to normalization.
Armenia described the offensive as ethnic cleansing. Azerbaijan denied that and said those who fled could have stayed and been integrated into Azerbaijan.
Key elements in securing a treaty are demarcating borders and establishing regional transport corridors through each other's territory.
Armenia has also raised the issue of determining control of ethnic enclaves on both sides of the border. Azerbaijan wants its neighbor to return four villages it says Yerevan is occupying.
Pashinyan has repeatedly signaled in recent weeks that he is willing to return the villages to Azerbaijan, which are important for Yerevan, as they control its main road northwards to the border with Georgia.
Azerbaijan has said that the return of its lands is a necessary precondition for a peace deal to end three decades of conflict over Karabakh.
They have said they want to sign a formal peace treaty, but talks have become bogged down in issues including the demarcation of the countries' 1,000-kilometer (620-mile) border, which is closed and heavily militarized.
