Azerbaijan says its border guards have shot dead five armed Bangladeshi and Azerbaijani citizens who were trying to illegally cross the border into Iran.
A statement from the border guard service says the shootings took place on March 13 near the village of Dashkend in the Yardymli district on Azerbaijan’s southern border with Iran.
The statement said the group ignored warning shots and began to shoot back at the police.
It said two armed suspects were detained.
Azerbaijani media had previously reported arrests of Bangladeshi and Indian nationals on suspicion of drug trafficking through Azerbaijan's 660-kilometer border with Iran.
The Caucasus nation is located along major drug trafficking routes from Afghanistan and Iran to Europe and Russia.
