Associated Press Worldstream
March 19, 2004 Friday 12:08 PM Eastern Time

Three civilians killed in latest mine explosion in Nagorno-Karabakh

YEREVAN, Armenia

A jeep of hunters driving in the contested Nagorno-Karabakh enclave
hit an anti-tank mine that killed three civilians and wounded another
six, a demining organization said Friday.

The explosion happened Sunday evening, the office of London-based
HALO trust in Nagorno-Karabakh’s regional capital Stepanakert said.

Nagorno-Karabakh remains laced with mines from the war that left
ethnic Armenian forces in control of the enclave within Azerbaijan. A
cease-fire between the two former Soviet republics was signed in
1994, but the enclave’s political status is unresolved and Armenian
and Azeri forces face off across a demilitarized zone.

Inlcuding the latest explosion, HALO said seven civilians have died
in Nagorno-Karabakh this year. Nine people died in 2003.