AZERBAIJAN SAYS SOLDIER KILLED IN ATTACK BY ETHNIC ARMENIAN FORCES

Associated Press Worldstream
October 10, 2005 Monday 2:07 PM Eastern Time

BAKU, Azerbaijan

An Azerbaijani soldier was killed during a firefight with ethnic
Armenian forces near the disputed enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh,
Azerbaijan’s military said Monday.

The 19-year-old conscript was killed Sunday in the gunfire exchange
on the cease-fire line that separates Azerbaijani and Armenian-backed
troops, Defense Ministry spokesman Ilgar Verdiev said.

Verdiev said the Armenian forces started the shooting, and Azerbaijani
forces responded. Armenian officials could not be immediately be
reached for comment.

Nagorno-Karabakh and swaths of surrounding territory inside Azerbaijan
have been under control of ethnic Armenians since a six-year war
against Azerbaijan ended with a 1994 cease-fire. The enclave’s status
remains unresolved, and tensions remain high along the cease-fire
line with both sides regularly exchanging fire.