In this file photo, taken on October 25, 2020, an Armenian soldier fires artillery on the front line, during fighting between Armenian and Azerbaijani forces over the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh. (By AFP)

Armenia’s Defense Ministry says the number of its soldiers killed in border clashes with Azerbaijan rose to three in the latest incident of skirmishes following the war of 2020.

In a statement released on Wednesday, the ministry said the body of an Armenian serviceman was discovered with fatal gunshot wounds in the vicinity where intense skirmishes had erupted on the previous day.

Azerbaijan and Armenia reported clashes on their volatile border Tuesday, when one Azeri soldier and two Armenian troops were killed. Two Azeri soldiers were also wounded. The neighbors accused each other of initiating renewed fighting.

Azerbaijan’s Defense Ministry said its forces suppressed the enemy following the incident in the Kalbajar area on the border. Armenia denounced what it described as the Azeri army’s provocative actions.

The Kalbajar district was one of several Armenia ceded to Azerbaijan as part of a ceasefire agreement brokered by Moscow.

Yerevan earlier said Azerbaijan had deployed drones and artillery against its troops in a region on its eastern border, a claim Baku denied.

Tensions between Yerevan and Baku remain high more than a year after the arch-foes fought a war over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region. The six-week conflict, which claimed more than 6,500 lives on both sides, ended in November 2020 with a Russian-brokered deal that left Azerbaijan largely in control of the territory.

Nagorno-Karabakh is internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan but has been populated by ethnic Armenians. Russia has deployed 1,960 peacekeepers to the region for an initial five-year period. Since the truce, the two sides have accused each other of breaching the peace deal.