BAKU, July 29 (Reuters) - Azerbaijan said on Wednesday ithad shot down an Armenian drone near the breakawayNagorno-Karabakh region, a report dismissed by separatists inthe region.
Renewed violence has broken this year along the borderbetween Armenia and Azerbaijan and around Nagorno-Karabakh,which lies inside Azerbaijan but is controlled by its majorityethnic Armenians.
The Azeri Defence Ministry said the drone DJI Inspire 1, acommercial vehicle designed for aerial photography, was shotdown over Azeri positions near the breakaway region butNagorno-Karabakh's defence ministry denied the report.
"The information released today by the Azeri defenceministry, that supposedly Azeri armed forces shot down anArmenian drone, does not match reality," the separatists'ministry said in a statement.
Fighting over Nagorno-Karabakh erupted in 1991 as the SovietUnion broke up and a ceasefire was called in 1994. ButAzerbaijan and Armenia have regularly traded accusations offurther violence around Nagorno-Karabakh and along their border. (Reporting by Nailia Bagirova and Hasmik Mkrtchyan; Writing byMargarita Antidze; Editing by Larry King)
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