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ARMENIA ACCUSED OVER KILLING OF CIVILIANS IN VOLATILE KARABAKH
Agence France Presse -- English
March 9, 2008 Sunday 3:53 PM GMT
Azerbaijan's defence ministry accused Armenian forces on Sunday of
opening fire on a residential area near the disputed region of Nagorny
Karabakh and killing two civilians.
The defence ministry said that two men, 26-year-old Niyamaddin Ismaylov
and 38-year-old Etibar Mikayilov, were killed when Armenian forces
opened fire on the residential area and Azerbaijani positions in the
frontline Aghdam region.
Two other men were wounded in the shooting which began Saturday night
and continued until early Sunday, a defence ministry spokesman said.
It followed one of the worst breaches of a 1994 ceasefire in the
region in years on Tuesday. Both sides accused the other of taking
advantage of the volatile political situation in Armenia to violate
the ceasefire.
The Armenian capital Yerevan is under a state of emergency after eight
people were killed on March 1 in street battles between riot police and
opposition supporters protesting the result of a presidential election.
Azerbaijan claimed that four of its soldiers and 12 Armenian servicemen
were killed in the fighting Tuesday, while Armenia claimed it had
lost no soldiers and that eight Azerbaijanis died.
Armenian forces seized control of Nagorny Karabakh and seven
surrounding regions from Azerbaijan in the early 1990s, in a war that
claimed an estimated 30,000 lives and forced about a million people
to flee their homes.
The two countries have cut direct economic and transport links and
failed to negotiate a settlement on the region's status.
Armenian and Azerbaijani forces are spread across a ceasefire line in
and around Nagorny Karabakh, often facing each other at close range,
and shootings are common.
Agence France Presse -- English
March 9, 2008 Sunday 3:53 PM GMT
Azerbaijan's defence ministry accused Armenian forces on Sunday of
opening fire on a residential area near the disputed region of Nagorny
Karabakh and killing two civilians.
The defence ministry said that two men, 26-year-old Niyamaddin Ismaylov
and 38-year-old Etibar Mikayilov, were killed when Armenian forces
opened fire on the residential area and Azerbaijani positions in the
frontline Aghdam region.
Two other men were wounded in the shooting which began Saturday night
and continued until early Sunday, a defence ministry spokesman said.
It followed one of the worst breaches of a 1994 ceasefire in the
region in years on Tuesday. Both sides accused the other of taking
advantage of the volatile political situation in Armenia to violate
the ceasefire.
The Armenian capital Yerevan is under a state of emergency after eight
people were killed on March 1 in street battles between riot police and
opposition supporters protesting the result of a presidential election.
Azerbaijan claimed that four of its soldiers and 12 Armenian servicemen
were killed in the fighting Tuesday, while Armenia claimed it had
lost no soldiers and that eight Azerbaijanis died.
Armenian forces seized control of Nagorny Karabakh and seven
surrounding regions from Azerbaijan in the early 1990s, in a war that
claimed an estimated 30,000 lives and forced about a million people
to flee their homes.
The two countries have cut direct economic and transport links and
failed to negotiate a settlement on the region's status.
Armenian and Azerbaijani forces are spread across a ceasefire line in
and around Nagorny Karabakh, often facing each other at close range,
and shootings are common.