TEHRAN, May 13 (MNA) – Troops from Azerbaijan and Armenia exchanged fire with weapons including mortars and drones on their joint border on Friday, killing one soldier from each side two days before top-level talks on a long-term peace deal.

It was the second straight day of exchanges of fire - ahead of Sunday's planned meeting in Brussels between Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azeri President Ilham Aliyev.

One Azeri soldier died in Thursday's hostilities, Reuters reported.

In the latest skirmish, Armenia's Defence Ministry said its forces came under fire with mortars and small arms near the village of Sotk, close to the border. The ministry said drones were also deployed.

"In the wake of enemy fire, the Armenian side has one killed in action and one wounded," the ministry said, adding the exchanges eventually died down.

Azerbaijan's Defence Ministry said it had cut short a drone attack by Armenia on its positions in the Kalbajar district on its side of the border. It later reported that one of its servicemen had been killed and that Azeri troops controlled the situation.

Tensions have risen as Azerbaijan set up a new checkpoint on the road to Karabakh in the Lachin Corridor, a move that Armenia called a gross violation of a 2020 ceasefire.

AMK/PR