KARABAKH SERVICEMAN KILLED IN AZERBAIJANI FIRE ATTACK

YEREVAN, April 8. /ARKA/. Levon Mirzoyan, 19, a serviceman of the
Karabakh army, was fatally wounded and died on an eastern section
of Karabakh-Azerbaijan contact line in the fire opened from the
Azerbaijani side at 17:15 local time on Tuesday, the press office
of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic’s defense ministry reported on
Wednesday. The incident is being investigated now.

“The Nagorno Karabakh ministry of defense mourns the death of the
serviceman, and our condolences go out to his family and friends,”
the ministry says in its press release.

Karabakh conflict broke out in 1988 when Karabakh, mainly populated
by Armenians, declared its independence from Azerbaijan.

On December 10, 1991, a few days after the collapse of the Soviet
Union, a referendum took place in Nagorno-Karabakh, and the majority
of the population (99.89%) voted for secession from Azerbaijan.

Afterwards, large-scale military operations began. As a result,
Azerbaijan lost control over Nagorno-Karabakh and the seven regions
adjacent to it.

Some 30,000 people were killed in this war and about one million
people fled their homes.

On May 12, 1994, the Bishkek cease-fire agreement put an end to the
military operations.

Since 1992, talks brokered by OSCE Minsk Group are being held over
peaceful settlement of the conflict. The group is co-chaired by USA,
Russia and France. -0—