YEREVAN, Armenia (AP) — A fire at a military base in Armenia early Thursday killed at least 15 soldiers, the Defense Ministry said.

The fire swept through a barracks in the village of Azat, in Gegharkunik province, eastern Armenia. The ministry said that three soldiers were injured and remained in grave condition. It didn't say what caused the fire.

The Gegharkunik region borders Azerbaijan, which has been locked in a decades-long conflict with Armenia over Nagorno-Karabakh, which is part of Azerbaijan but has been under the control of ethnic Armenian forces backed by Armenia since a separatist war there ended in 1994.

In six weeks of heavy fighting that began in September 2020, the Azerbaijani military routed Armenian forces and moved deep into Nagorno-Karabakh, forcing Armenia to accept a Russia-brokered peace deal in November that year. Another flare-up of fighting last September killed 155 soldiers from both sides.