Armenia says soldier killed, but Azerbaijan rejects claim

The Associated Press

Armenia’s defense ministry says 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. Tensions further rose on Sunday when Azerbaijan announced it had opened a checkpoint at the start of the road that leads from Armenia to the ethnic Armenian region of Nagorno-Karabakh that is within Azerbaijan. Armenia claimed that such a checkpoint violates the pact that ended fierce fighting between the countries in 2020.