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Armenian soldier captured by Azerbaijani forces
AP Worldstream
Apr 07, 2005
A defense official said Thursday that an Armenian soldier who went
absent without leave from his unit had been captured by Azerbaijani
forces.
A spokesman for Armenian Defense Minister Col. Seiran Shakhsuvarian
said the unarmed soldier left his unit in the northeastern Noemberian
district of Armenia last Friday and apparently got lost. It was not
immediately clear when the soldier was captured by Azerbajani forces
or why he left.
"Armenia and international organizations are working on his return,"
the spokesman said.
Tensions remain high between Armenia and Azerbaijan 11 years after
a cease-fire ended major fighting over the disputed enclave of
Nagorno-Karabakh. The mountainous region inside Azerbaijan has been
under the control of ethnic Armenians since the fighting, which killed
an estimated 30,000 people and drove a million from their homes.
The enclave's political status has not been determined, and shooting
breaks out frequently between the two sides, which face off across
a demilitarized buffer zone. Both sides routinely take prisoners and
exchange them via the Red Cross and other humanitarian groups.
Three Azerbaijani soldiers who were captured by Karabakh by Armenian
forces in February remain in custody in the region's main city,
Stepanakert.
AP Worldstream
Apr 07, 2005
A defense official said Thursday that an Armenian soldier who went
absent without leave from his unit had been captured by Azerbaijani
forces.
A spokesman for Armenian Defense Minister Col. Seiran Shakhsuvarian
said the unarmed soldier left his unit in the northeastern Noemberian
district of Armenia last Friday and apparently got lost. It was not
immediately clear when the soldier was captured by Azerbajani forces
or why he left.
"Armenia and international organizations are working on his return,"
the spokesman said.
Tensions remain high between Armenia and Azerbaijan 11 years after
a cease-fire ended major fighting over the disputed enclave of
Nagorno-Karabakh. The mountainous region inside Azerbaijan has been
under the control of ethnic Armenians since the fighting, which killed
an estimated 30,000 people and drove a million from their homes.
The enclave's political status has not been determined, and shooting
breaks out frequently between the two sides, which face off across
a demilitarized buffer zone. Both sides routinely take prisoners and
exchange them via the Red Cross and other humanitarian groups.
Three Azerbaijani soldiers who were captured by Karabakh by Armenian
forces in February remain in custody in the region's main city,
Stepanakert.