Interfax
June 24 2004
Armenian soldier killed on Azerbaijani border – Armenia
Yerevan. (Interfax) – An Armenian soldier was killed on Armenia’s
border with Azerbaijan on Monday, the Armenian Defense Ministry said
on Wednesday.
Ministry spokesman Col. Seiran Shakhsuvarian told Interfax the
soldier had been killed by a sniper.
The incident occurred on a section of the border where there were
Armenian-Azerbaijani exchanges of fire early this month. Armenia says
Azerbaijani forces started the skirmishes.
Armenia and Azerbaijan have been embroiled in a conflict since the
early 1990s over the Azerbaijani Armenian-speaking enclave of
Nagorno- Karabakh.
There was a war in early stages of the conflict in which Azerbaijan
lost Nagorno-Karabakh and nearby districts, forcing about 1 million
Azerbaijanis to leave their homes.
The UN Security Council demanded the withdrawal of Armenian forces
from the occupied territory.
The United States, Russia and France co-head the Minsk Group of the
Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), which
mediates efforts to settle the conflict.
OSCE officials have paid two visits to the Armenian-Azerbaijani
border this month.