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ARMENIAN OFFICER KILLED IN FIGHTING NEAR AZERI BORDER
By Gevorg Stamboltsian
Radio Free Europe, Czech Republic
June 16 2004
YEREVAN, 16.06.04. An Armenian army officer was shot dead last week
in a fierce cross-border firefight with Azerbaijani forces in the
northern Tavush region which heightened military tension in the area,
the Armenian military revealed on Tuesday.
It also emerged that the fighting prompted urgent intervention
from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe which
has been monitoring the decade-long regime of ceasefire along
the Armenian-Azerbaijani frontier and the line of contact east of
Nagorno-Karabakh.
Colonel-General Mikael Harutiunian, chief of staff of Armenia's Armed
Forces, said skirmishes erupted after Azerbaijani troops occupied
a hill in a no-man's land near the regional town of Ijevan which
overlooks a local water reservoir. He said Armenian forces responded
by moving their positions forward in order to defend a nearby facility
that pumps irrigation water to five local villages.
Harutiunian said the slain Armenian officer had the rank of
lieutenant but refused to disclose his identity. He also claimed
that the Azerbaijani side suffered more casualties. "It's hard for
me to give a number, but we do know that many died on their side,"
he told reporters.
The Defense Ministry in Yerevan said in a separate statement that OSCE
officials began an urgent monitoring of the situation in the area at
the weekend and are trying to defuse the tensions. Harutiunian said
his troops will not pull pack to their previous positions unless the
Azerbaijanis withdraw from the hill. "Once they leave the hill and
ensure the safe work of the pump station we will make a corresponding
decision," he said.
The incident highlighted the shaky nature of the Armenian-Azerbaijani
ceasefire, the tenth anniversary of which was marked last month.
Although the truce has largely held, hundreds of soldiers from both
sides are believed to have died in skirmishes periodically reported
from the line of contact. The most serious of them occur on the
Karabakh frontline which has the heaviest troop concentration.
RFE/RL
By Gevorg Stamboltsian
Radio Free Europe, Czech Republic
June 16 2004
YEREVAN, 16.06.04. An Armenian army officer was shot dead last week
in a fierce cross-border firefight with Azerbaijani forces in the
northern Tavush region which heightened military tension in the area,
the Armenian military revealed on Tuesday.
It also emerged that the fighting prompted urgent intervention
from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe which
has been monitoring the decade-long regime of ceasefire along
the Armenian-Azerbaijani frontier and the line of contact east of
Nagorno-Karabakh.
Colonel-General Mikael Harutiunian, chief of staff of Armenia's Armed
Forces, said skirmishes erupted after Azerbaijani troops occupied
a hill in a no-man's land near the regional town of Ijevan which
overlooks a local water reservoir. He said Armenian forces responded
by moving their positions forward in order to defend a nearby facility
that pumps irrigation water to five local villages.
Harutiunian said the slain Armenian officer had the rank of
lieutenant but refused to disclose his identity. He also claimed
that the Azerbaijani side suffered more casualties. "It's hard for
me to give a number, but we do know that many died on their side,"
he told reporters.
The Defense Ministry in Yerevan said in a separate statement that OSCE
officials began an urgent monitoring of the situation in the area at
the weekend and are trying to defuse the tensions. Harutiunian said
his troops will not pull pack to their previous positions unless the
Azerbaijanis withdraw from the hill. "Once they leave the hill and
ensure the safe work of the pump station we will make a corresponding
decision," he said.
The incident highlighted the shaky nature of the Armenian-Azerbaijani
ceasefire, the tenth anniversary of which was marked last month.
Although the truce has largely held, hundreds of soldiers from both
sides are believed to have died in skirmishes periodically reported
from the line of contact. The most serious of them occur on the
Karabakh frontline which has the heaviest troop concentration.
RFE/RL