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A criminal case has been opened over a brawl between the Armenian and Azerbaijani troops near the village of Khoznavar in Syunik Province on Thursday, the law enforcement authorities said.

In a statement on Friday, the Prosecutor General's Office said on May 20, at around 10am, a group of Azerbaijani servicemen illegally crossed the state border of Armenia, advancing some 1,5 kilometers towards Khoznavar village in Tegh community.

They positioned themselves in the area and threatened to use force against the Armenian servicemen approaching them and to open fire at them, saying the territory allegedly belonged to the Republic of Azerbaijan.

Eventually, the Armenian military managed to push the Azeri soldiers back to their initial positions.

However, later on Thursday, at around 9:10pm, a group of Azerbaijani soldiers again crossed the state border of Armenia in the same area without proper permission and engaged in a brawl with Armenian troops on duty. As a result, 11 Armenian servicemen suffered injuries, however the Azeri troops were again forced to return to their positions.

The criminal case has been launched under Article 329 (illegal state border crossing), Article 300.2 and Article 112 of Armenia's Criminal Code, the Prosecutor’s Office said.