YEREVAN: An ethnic Armenian separatist officer in Nagorny Karabakh and an Azerbaijani soldier died in the latest raid along the disputed region’s volatile frontline, the rebel defence ministry said on Saturday.

Several other Azerbaijani soldiers were captured in the fighting, breakaway Armenian forces said, although Baku has made no comment on the claims.

A 37-year-old Armenian woman, Movses Gasparian, was seriously wounded in the shootout, rebels claimed.

At least 18 soldiers have been killed in a surge in violence along the border since the beginning of the year, with snipers frequently exchanging fire across the frontier.

Most have died in tit-for-tat commando raids. The dead Armenian officer was named as 42-year-old Major Sargis Abrahamyan.

The rebels claimed on Thursday that they had captured another Azerbaijani soldier after a separate raid. Baku, however, said the man named as captured was not a member of their forces.

Armenia-backed separatists seized Nagorny Karabakh from Azerbaijan in a war that left 30,000 people dead as the Soviet Union collapsed. Despite years of negotiations since a 1994 ceasefire, the two sides have yet to sign a peace deal. Azerbaijan has threatened to take back the majority Armenian-inhabited region by force if negotiations do not yield results, while Armenia has vowed to retaliate against any military action.

Published in Dawn, July 13th, 2014