Azerbaijani Troops Kill Armenian Soldier

Azerbaijani troops killed an Armenian soldier on Saturday on the border between the two ex-Soviet enemies locked in a dispute over the region of Nagorny Karabakh, Armenia's Defense Ministry said.

"Serviceman Mger Ekhshatian, 37, was shot dead on February 9 as a result of a ceasefire violation by Azerbaijan," the ministry said in a statement.

The incident took place at the northeastern sector of the Azerbaijani-Armenian border, the ministry said.

Last year, 15 people from both sides were reported to have been killed amid clashes between Armenian and Azerbaijani troops along their border and in the disputed region of Nagorny Karabakh.

Armenia-backed separatists seized Nagorny Karabakh from Azerbaijan in a war in the 1990s that left some 30,000 dead, and no final peace deal has been signed since the ceasefire.

Azerbaijan has threatened to take back the disputed region by force if negotiations do not yield results, while Armenia has vowed massive retaliation against any military action.