Armenia and Azerbaijan said on Friday that they had both sustained casualties as they accused each other of engaging in a new round of clashes around their common borders, northwest of the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region.

Armenia's Defense Ministry said on Friday that four of its servicemen were killed and another one wounded in shelling near the town of Sotk, less than 10km from the Azeri border. 

Azerbaijan said Armenia had struck its positions across the border in the Kalbajar region using drones, wounding three servicemen.

Armenia and Azerbaijan have been at loggerheads over the mountainous region of Nagorno-Karabakh since 1988. Peace talks have been held since 1994, when a ceasefire was agreed upon, but there have been sporadic minor clashes.

A new round of armed conflict broke out along the contact line on September 27, 2020, before Russia brokered a ceasefire on November 9, 2020 and the two sides have been unable to reach a lasting peace settlement despite mediation efforts by the European Union, United States and Russia.

(With input from agencies)