AZERBAIJAN’S DESERTED SERVICEMAN KILLED BY ARMENIAN ARMED FORCES

TREND News Agency
Nov 17 2008
Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan, Barda, 17 November / Trend News corr. Sh.Jaliloglu/
A serviceman who deserted from the Azerbaijani Army Shamilov tried
to pass to the Armenian side but was killed by the soldiers of the
Armenian Armed Forces, a law-enforcement source said to Trend News
on 17 November.

According to another source, a soldier, who escaped from N military
unit in the Fuzuli region (360km south-west of Baku), either passed
to the Armenian side or was captured.

Orkhan Shamilov, who was conscripted to military service from the
Terter Region Conscription Office in April 2008, escaped on 15 November
with the gun entrusted to him.

Terter Police Office said to Trend News that they had suspended the
search operations which were held on 15-16 November.

Azerbaijani Defence Ministry did not provide extra reports on the
event.

On 8 October, serviceman Rafig Hasanov, 19, was captured by Armenians
at the troops contact line under unknown circumstances.

The conflict between the two countries of the South Caucasus began in
1988 due to Armenian territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan
lost the Nagorno-Karabakh, except of Shusha and Khojali, in December
1991. In 1992-93, Armenian Armed Forces occupied Shusha, Khojali and
Nagorno-Karabakh’s seven surrounding regions. In 1994, Azerbaijan
and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement at which time the active
hostilities ended. The countries keep on peace negotiating.

OSCE Minsk Group co-chaired by USA, Russia, France is engaged in
peace settling of the conflict.