Baku: Azerbaijan on Monday reported that its military positions near the border with Armenia were fired on for a second consecutive day. Armenian troops in the Basarkechar and Gorus districts reportedly fired intermittently at Azerbaijani military positions using small arms between 1.25 am and 12.55 pm local time (2125GMT and 1055GMT), according to an Azerbaijani Defense Ministry statement.

According to Anadolu Agency, this report marks the fourth issued by Baku over the past two days, with the ministry previously reporting firing by Armenian troops on Sunday on three separate occasions. Armenia's Defense Ministry responded to the new report with a standard denial, claiming that it "does not correspond to reality."

The report follows both Azerbaijan and Armenia separately announcing an agreement on a draft peace agreement on Thursday, intended to end a decades-long conflict and establish diplomatic ties between Baku and Yerevan. Relations between the two former Soviet republics have been tense since 1991, when the Armenian military occupied Karabakh-a territory internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan-and seven adjacent regions.

Most of the territory was liberated by Azerbaijan during a 44-day war in the fall of 2020, which concluded with a Russian-brokered peace agreement that opened the door to normalization and demarcation talks. In September 2023, Azerbaijan established full sovereignty in Karabakh after separatist forces in the region surrendered.