Daily US Times: Armenia says one a fighter jet of them was shot down by a Turkish jet in a major escalation of the conflict over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region.

The foreign ministry of Armenia said the pilot of the Soviet-made SU-25 died after being hit by the Turkish F-16 in Armenian air space.

Turkey, which is backing Azerbaijan in the conflict, has denied the claim.

Nearly 100 people people, including civilians, have died in three days of fighting over the disputed mountainous region.

The region is internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan, but has been run by ethnic Armenians since a 1988-94 war between the two former Soviet republics.

Azerbaijan has repeatedly stated that its air force does not have F-16 fighter jets. However, Turkey has F-16 jets.

The fighting that started three days ago now appears to be spilling out of Nagorno-Karabakh, with Azerbaijan and Armenia trading accusations of direct fire into their territories.

Both countries also blame each other for starting the conflict.

Turkey openly backs Azerbaijan, while Russia – which has a military base in Armenia but is also friendly with Azerbaijan – has called for an immediate ceasefire.

What’s happened to the fighter jet?

Shushan Stepanyan, Armenian Defence Ministry spokeswoman, said the Armenian SU-25 was shot down on Tuesday morning and the pilot “died heroically”.

She said in a Facebook post that the Turkish F-16 fighter jet was 60km (37 miles) deep into Armenian air space.

Turkey immediately denied the accusations as “absolutely untrue”.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s aide Fahrettin Altun said: “Armenia should withdraw from the territories under its occupation instead of resorting to cheap propaganda tricks.”

You may read: Azerbaijan and Armenia clash over disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region