Italy on Friday expressed regret at the deaths of reporter Maharram Ibrahimov and cameraman Siraj Abishov, who were killed by landmine in Azerbaijan's western Kalbajar district - territory vacated by ethnic Armenian forces last November.
"We are truly saddened to learn of the death of two journalists, Siraj Abishov and Magerram Ibrahimov, due to a landmine in Kalbajar district," Italy's embassy in Azerbaijan tweeted.
"The press continues to pay a high price for war and its consequences. Our heartfelt condolences go to their loved ones," the tweet added.
SCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Teresa Ribeiro, and the Committee to Protect Journalists also stated their concern over Abishov and Ibrahimov's killing in the blast that also killed a local government official and injured four people according to reports.
In last year's conflict, Azerbaijan's army drove ethnic Armenian forces out of swathes of territory they had controlled since the 1990s in and around the disputed enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh, where Kalbajar is located.
