Azeri radio says Armenians re-deploy troops on border

ANS Radio, Baku
18 Jun 04

The situation is relatively calm on the contact line of the armed
forces of Armenia and Azerbaijan. However, Armenians are bringing
troops and military hardware towards the Qazax direction of the
border. Residents of Mazam village, which borders Armenia, came to
this conclusion on the basis of the Armenian aggressors’ intensified
activities on the border. The locals say that the Armenian military
have been re-deploying their positions over the past week and the
enemy’s positions are now closer to the village.

Let us recall that four to five kilometres of the road to the villages
of Mazam and Qusci Ayrim go through the front line. The residents of
the villages are moving children to safer areas in order to protect
them from Armenian aggression, as there is a great possibility of
the road being blocked.

The head of the district executive authorities admitted that the
situation in Mazam village is tense. As the road to the village
has been under constant fire from the enemy during the past week,
movement to and from the village has been suspended.

The head of the district executive authorities, Asad Orucov, said
that the enemy used to fire at the village and the road. The OSCE
Minsk Group’s mission which carried out monitoring in the village
on 12 June was informed about the situation which had developed in
the last two weeks. However, the Armenian side ignored the OSCE’s
recommendations. Orucov said that a strong military contingent sent to
defend the village is capable of repulsing the enemy. Thus it is out
of the question that Armenians can besiege the village, end of quote.

[Lider TV, Baku, in Azeri 0800 gmt, said Mazam village came under
Armenian fire on Thursday night 18 June]