Police in Azerbaijan have detained a dozen journalists working for U.S.-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty amid an ongoing crackdown on the outlet that Washington and rights groups decry.

The Baku offices of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty were sealed on Friday after prosecutors and armed police confiscated equipment and computers during a raid. 

The State Department is "deeply disturbed" by reports that prosecutors raided Azerbaijan's local Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty office Friday, a U.S. official said, calling the motive for the episode "unclear."

Prosecutors in the tightly-controlled Caucasus nation searched the offices of U.S.-funded Radio Azadliq, confiscating equipment and computers while accompanied by armed police, its director Kenan Aliyev told Agence France Presse.

Prosecutors in Azerbaijan on Friday raided the offices of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty's local service, according to its director who condemned the move as a crackdown on free media in the tightly controlled Caucasus nation.

Prosecutors searched the offices of U.S.-funded Radio Azadliq "accompanied by armed police, saying they have a court order to shut down the office," its director Kenan Aliyev told Agence France-Presse.

Armenian troops on Thursday killed an Azerbaijani soldier, the defense ministry in Baku said, amid escalating tensions in the longstanding conflict over the disputed Nagorny Karabakh region.

Last week, Armenia threatened "grave consequences" after Azerbaijani forces shot down a helicopter belonging to the army of the breakaway ethnic Armenian region.

Armenia threatened 'grave consequences' Wednesday after Azerbaijani forces shot down a military helicopter, sparking fears of a major escalation in the conflict over the disputed region of Nagorny Karabakh.

The downing of the helicopter belonging to the army of the breakaway ethnic Armenian region is the most serious incident on the Karabakh border since the 1994 ceasefire that ended a bloody war that cost 30,000 lives.

French President Francois Hollande held talks with the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan Monday in a fresh push to end the festering conflict over the disputed region of Nagorny Karabakh.

The summit in Paris enabled "the resumption of a direct dialogue" between the presidents of the two countries, though no accord was reached, the French presidency said in a statement after the talks ended.

French President Francois Hollande held talks with leaders from Armenia and Azerbaijan Monday as Europe makes a fresh push to end the festering conflict over the disputed region of Nagorny Karabakh.

The summit in Paris follows a visit by German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier to both countries last week after a sharp escalation in violence over the region in recent months as war rages in Ukraine.

Two Azerbaijani citizens went on trial Monday for murder and espionage in the separatist Armenian-backed Nagorny Karabakh region, as the latest international efforts to resolve the festering conflict kicked off in Paris.

Shahbaz Guliyev and Dilhan Askerov are accused of infiltrating the disputed territory in late June as part of an Azerbaijani reconnaissance group and killing a 17-year-old Karabakh civilian and a soldier, the separatist judicial authority said in a statement.

French President Francois Hollande hosts leaders from Armenia and Azerbaijan Monday as Europe makes a fresh push to end the festering conflict over Nagorny Karabakh.

Germany's Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier visited both countries last week after a sharp escalation in violence over the disputed region in recent months as war raged in Ukraine.

Germany's foreign minister on Thursday offered Berlin's experience in post-war reconciliation to Armenia and Turkey to help them forge peace a century after a World War I-era massacre.

On a visit to Yerevan, Frank-Walter Steinmeier said Germany's long road to partnership with France after two world wars could serve as an example following the 1915 slaughter of Armenians during World War I.