
The fighting between Armenia and Azerbaijan has left 100 soldiers dead, the BBC reports. Armenia's Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said 49 of its soldiers died in the overnight clashes, while Azerbaijan's defense ministry said 50 of its soldiers were also killed.
The neighboring countries have been in conflict with each other for three decades. A day earlier, Russia said it brokered a ceasefire over the latest outbreak. Armenia initially declared that the fighting had calmed down, rather than completely ended. Later, Azerbaijan said it had completed its targets after "provocations" by its neighbor. At the heart of the dispute is the Nagorno-Karabakh region. According to internationally recognized borders, it is part of Azerbaijan, but is populated by ethnic Armenians.
The cultural divide extends beyond politics to religion, Armenia is a Christian-majority country, while Azerbaijan is predominantly Muslim. Both countries were part of the Soviet Union before its dissolution in late 1991.
The dispute has led to large-scale warfare in the 1980s and 1990s, a six-week war in 2020 and ongoing clashes for decades. Both countries blame each other for the latest outbreak of violence.