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Tensions between Yerevan and Baku remain high after a 44-day war
last year between ethnic Armenian forces and the Azeri army,
backed by Turkey, that killed at least 6,500 people and ended in
a decisive victory for Azerbaijan.
The Azeri defence ministry spoke of what it said was a tense
situation on the border with Armenia where it said a military
operation was underway to repel what it called large-scale
"provocations."
It said Armenian forces were shelling Azeri army positions with
artillery and mortar fire and that it had destroyed some
Armenian military hardware.
The Armenian defence ministry was cited by Russian news agencies
as saying in a statement that Azerbaijan was using artillery,
small arms and armour in ongoing battles.
TASS said four Armenian soldiers had been wounded.
"Since Azerbaijan has attacked Armenia's sovereign territory we
are asking Russia to defend Armenia's territorial integrity
based on an existing 1987 (mutual defence) agreement between our
countries," the Interfax news agency cited Armen Grigoryan, the
secretary of Armenia's Security Council, as saying.
Russia has a military base in Armenia as well as a peacekeeping
force in the Nagorno-Karabakh enclave where last year's war
unfolded.
There was no immediate response from Russia to the Armenian
appeal.
(Reporting by Polina Devitt in Moscow and by Nailia Bagirova in
Baku; Editing by Andrew Osborn)
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