ARMENIA, AZERBAIJAN EXCHANGE GUNFIRE NEAR KARABAKH

RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty, Czech Republic
March 7 2006

The Nagorno-Karabakh army in training in 2005
(Photolur)
March 7, 2006 — Azerbaijani and Armenian forces exchanged gunfire
today in what correspondents say is the most serious outbreak of
violence in the region in recent months.

Azerbaijan said one of its soldiers was killed early on March 7 near
the ceasefire line that separates Azerbaijani and Armenian forces.

Armenian forces said one of their men had been killed in a separate
clash last week.

Both sides blamed the other for triggering the latest exchanges
of fire.

The two countries are in a dispute over Nagorno-Karabakh, a mostly
ethnic Armenian enclave which split from Azerbaijan in a war in the
early 1990s. A 1994 cease-fire ended the fighting but the status of
the enclave remains unresolved.

Tensions have been rising since talks in France between the Armenian
and Azerbaijani presidents last month in France failed to deliver
progress.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress