Armenia Arrests Alleged Azerbaijani Police Spy

Armenia has arrested a former police colonel following allegations he was trying to pass on military secrets to arch-foe Azerbaijan, the country's intelligence agency said on Wednesday.

Ex-police officer Khachik Martirosyan, 57, was detained last Friday after purportedly contacting Azerbaijani officials with the offer of spying on his ex-Soviet homeland in return for money, the National Security Service said.

"Azerbaijani secret services asked him to obtain military information," the intelligence agency said in a statement said.

"After acquiring the information, Martirosyan was detained as he was trying to pass it on to his Azerbaijani contacts," the agency said.

Armenia and Azerbaijan are locked in a festering decades-long feud over the disputed region of Nagorny Karabakh.

Last month saw an increase in violence along the volatile frontline, with both sides accusing each other of tit-for-tat raids and at least four soldiers killed.

Armenia-backed separatists seized Nagorny Karabakh from Azerbaijan in a 1990s war that killed 30,000 people.

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 disputed region by force if negotiations do not yield results, while Armenia has vowed to retaliate against any military action.