WAR OVER THE MOUNTAINS: CASUALTIES IN NAGORNO-KARABAKH AGAIN
by Ivan Sukhov

What the Papers Say
March 5, 2008 Wednesday
Russia

Fighting reported on the border of Nagorno-Karabakh; There has been
fighting between the army of the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh republic
and the Armed Forces of Azerbaijan. Nagorno-Karabakh, populated by
ethnic Armenians, has been striving for independence from Azerbaijan
for the past 20 years.

It was reported yesterday morning that there has been fighting
between the army of the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh republic and
the Armed Forces of Azerbaijan on the border in the district of
Mardakert. Nagorno-Karabakh, populated by ethnic Armenians, has been
striving for independence from Azerbaijan for the past 20 years. De
facto, it won its independence in the war of 1992-94 – also taking
over several adjacent districts of Azerbaijan. The future status
of Nagorno-Karabakh and the return of these districts have been the
subject of negotiations between Azerbaijan and Armenia for many years;
the negotiations are coordinated by the OSCE Minsk Group.

According to the Armenian Defense Ministry, troop movements on the
Azeri side of the border were detected in the early hours of March 4
– and the opposing forces opened fire on Nagorno-Karabakh positions
around 5 a.m. According to Azerbaijan’s version of events, the
Nagorno-Karabakh forces opened fire first. The gunfire gradually
intensified, and a Nagorno-Karabakh soldier was wounded. The
Nagorno-Karabakh troops were even forced to abandon one of their
positions, but then regained it by counter-attacking. As at 8 p.m.

yesterday, Azerbaijan reported four soldiers dead. By that time the
Armenian Defense Ministry announced that the battle was over; Azeri
agencies reported that fighting was still under way. At any rate, both
sides have reported the ceasefire violation to the OSCE Minsk Group;
and the Armenian and Azeri chiefs of General Staff have discussed
the details of the incidents, according to procedures in the event
of ceasefire violations – which are not infrequent, unfortunately.

But the current escalation has taken place under exceptional
circumstances. Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanian has already
accused Azerbaijan of attempting to "take advantage of Armenia’s
domestic political situation in the military and diplomatic sense."

As we reported earlier, the Armenian opposition has categorically
refused to recognize the presidential election results. The official
decision is that Prime Minister Serge Sarkisian won the election. As
a result of unrest in Yerevan, which escalated on March 1 from a
round-the-clock demonstration to bloody clashes with police, a state
of emergency has been declared for 20 days in the Armenian capital.