AZERBAIJAN SAYS ARMENIA VIOLATED TRUCE
The Associated Press
Sep 5, 2007
BAKU, Azerbaijan (AP) – A skirmish near the disputed territory
of Nagorno-Karabakh killed two Azerbaijani soldiers and three
Armenian troops, Azerbaijani officials said Wednesday. Authorities
in Nagorno-Karabakh denied the claim.
Azerbaijani Defense Ministry spokesman Ilgar Verdiyev said the incident
occurred Tuesday when Armenian forces fired on Azerbaijani positions
in the Agdam and Fizuli regions near the boundary of Nagorno-Karabakh.
Armenian military spokesman Senor Asratian in Nagorno-Karabakh denied
there had been any fighting.
The incident underscored mounting tension in the disputed territory,
which is officially in Azerbaijan but has been controlled – along
with some surrounding areas – by local and Armenian forces since 1994.
Nagorno-Karabakh has been governed by a shaky cease-fire agreement
that ended a six-year separatist war in 1994.
Some 30,000 people were killed and about 1 million driven from their
homes during the fighting. Ethnic Armenians now account for virtually
the entire population of the territory.
Nagorno-Karabakh held presidential elections in July, which Azerbaijan
has rejected as illegitimate.