Azerbaijan dismisses media reports of helicopter downed by Armenia

Azerbaijan's Defense Ministry Saturday dismissed foreign media reports of an Azerbaijani helicopter having been downed by Armenian armed forces, as the two countries blamed each other for an escalation of tension along their borders.

"The information that the Azerbaijani helicopter was shot down along the line of contact is false and a provocation," the Defense Ministry said in a statement on Saturday. But it did not specify which media outlets carried the reports.

Nevertheless, Azerbaijan's Defense Ministry said that the situation along the contact line has been very tense in recent days.

One civilian was killed and another wounded in Garagaji village of Tartar district as a result of the fire opened by the Armenian armed forces, it said.

It also said the Armenian troops used mortars and large-caliber machine guns in the exchange of fire along the border and some Azerbaijani places including Krasnoselsk, Goygol and Khojavand "were under attack."

The Azerbaijani forces had carried out 130 strikes on Armenian positions, the ministry said.

On the same day, the press service of the Armenian Defense Ministry said the active attacking actions were taken by Azerbaijani force, during which they used heavy weapons, tanks and artillery.

Armenia and Azerbaijan have been locked in a bitter dispute over the mountainous region of Nagorno-Karabakh in 1991. Peace talks have been held since 1994 when a cease-fire was reached, but there have been occasional minor clashes in the past along the borders and across the volatile frontline of the Karabakh area. The clashes obviously escalated last month.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday urged parties in the conflict to "observe an immediate ceasefire and exercise restraint in order to prevent further casualties," according to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov. Endi