Azerbaijan has said it set up a checkpoint on the Lachin corridor, the only land link between Armenia and the Karabakh enclave.

Sunday’s checkpoint is the first set up by Azerbaijan since the latest war ended in 2020 with a Russian-brokered ceasefire.

“The units of the Azerbaijani Border Service established a border checkpoint on the sovereign territory of Azerbaijan at the entrance of the Lachin-Khankendi road,” the state border service said, adding it was a response to a similar move by Armenia.

Tensions between the countries further rose following the announcement with Armenia claiming that such a checkpoint violates the 2020 ceasefire agreement.

Armenia’s defence ministry said Sunday that one of its soldiers was killed by an Azerbaijani sniper near the border, but Azerbaijan denied the claim and separately reported that its soldiers had come under fire from Armenia in another part of the border area.

Baku and Yerevan went to war in 2020 and in the 1990s over Karabakh.

Under the ceasefire that ended the 2020 conflict, Azerbaijan is required to guarantee safe passage on the Lachin corridor, which is patrolled by Russian peacekeepers.

Source: TRTworld.com