BAKU: Two Azeris Killed In Truce Violation Near Karabakh

TWO AZERIS KILLED IN TRUCE VIOLATION NEAR KARABAKH

ANS TV
March 9 2008
Azerbaijan

The shooting took place at around 1500 gmt in the Azerbaijani district
of Agdam, which has been partly controlled by Armenian forces since
a cease-fire reached in 1994, the report said.

The dead Azerbaijanis were identified as Etibar Mikayilov, 38, and
Niyamaddin Ismayilov, 26. Both were residents ofthe village of Afatli,
which is on the cease-fire line of the Azerbaijani and Armenian troops.

ANS said that two other residents of the village had received gunshot
wounds.

There has been no Armenian report of a cease-fire violation.

If confirmed, this would be a second deadly truce violation in a
week. Azerbaijan said four of its troops and 12Armenian soldiers were
killed in clashes to the northeast of Nagornyy Karabakh on 4 March.

However, Armenia said it lostno soldiers while eight Azerbaijani
servicemen died.

Nagornyy Karabakh, which is populated by around 140,000 ethnic
Armenians, broke away from Azerbaijan following aseparatist war in
the 1990s. Major hostilities ended with a cease-fire in May 1994,
but the region has remained underArmenian control along with seven
adjacent Azerbaijani districts, including Agdam.

Peace talks mediated by the USA, Russia and France have yielded no
tangible results so far.