STEPANAKERT—The Nagorno-Karabakh Republic Army said Thursday that the situation at the lines of contact remain tense, adding that Azerbaijan is relentless is exacerbating the situation.

“From March 20 to 24, more than 200 cases of ceasefire violation by the Azerbaijani armed forces, which fired 1,300 shots from various weapons at Nagorno-Karabakh Republic positions, were recorded. The fire was most intense on March 20 and 21, during which Azerbaijan violated the ceasefire 110 times, using SVD and Black Arrow rifles,” reads a statement from the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic Defense Army.

Earlier Azerbaijani media reported that an Azerbaijani soldier, Samir Hidayat Agayev was allegedly killed at the line of contact near Ashagi Abdurrahmanli village in the Fizuli region, as a result of ceasefire violation by the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic Defense Army. On March 21 Azerbaijan confirmed death of another Azerbaijani soldier, Elnur Mamedov.

The spokesman for the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic Defense Army, Senor Hasratyan, said Azeri media accounts of dead soldiers were untrue, adding that Karabakh continued to observe the ceasefire. “Meanwhile, 50 cases of ceasefire violation by Azerbaijan were reported on March 22 and 23,” said Hasratyan.

He added that Azerbaijan tries to shift the blame for tragic incidents in the Azerbaijani army on the Karabakh army to conceal the real situation in the Azerbaijani armed forces from the public, as well as to present the Karabakh Defense Army as aggressors.