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ARMENIANS KILL FIVE AZERI TROOPS IN BORDER CLASH
Agence France Presse
June 5 2012
BAKU - Armenian forces killed five Azerbaijani soldiers in a border
clash Tuesday, in a new flaring of tensions as US Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton visits the volatile Caucasus region.
The Azerbaijani defence ministry said fighting broke out when "a
group of Armenian saboteurs made an attempt to penetrate the military
positions of the national army" in the country's north-west -- the
second reported outbreak of deadly violence along the border between
the ex-Soviet enemies this week.
"During the fight, four soldiers of the Azerbaijani armed forces were
killed and another died as a result of the Armenians opening fire,"
the ministry said in a statement.
Armenia however blamed Azerbaijan for causing the violence, saying
that "a subversive group of 15 to 20 people attempted to infiltrate
Armenian territory.
"Thanks to the vigilance of the Armenian servicemen, the group was
discovered and neutralised. Five were killed and many others wounded
from the Azerbaijani side," the Armenian defence ministry said in a
statement, adding that none of its troops were injured.
On Monday, Armenia alleged that Azerbaijani forces had killed three of
its soldiers and wounded six more when an attempted military incursion
ended in a firefight on the border, a report Baku denied.
Azerbaijan and Armenia are locked in a long-running conflict over the
territory of Nagorny Karabakh, where they fought a war in the 1990s
that killed some 30,000 people.
Unusually, this week's clashes erupted well to the north of the
disputed region.
According to Azerbaijan's defence ministry, Tuesday's violence hit
the region west of the Azerbaijani town of Gazakh. The deadly clashes
on Monday also took place nearby.
Visiting Yerevan on Monday, Clinton said she was concerned by the
rising tensions and warned Armenia and Azerbaijan not to settle their
conflict by force.
"I am very concerned about the danger of escalation of tensions
and the senseless deaths of young soldiers and innocent civilians,"
she said after Monday's violence.
"The use of force will not resolve the Nagorny Karabakh conflict and
therefore force must not be used."
The Karabakh war saw Armenia-backed separatists seize the mountainous
enclave from Azerbaijan amid a bitter struggle that caused hundreds
of thousands of people to flee their homes in both countries.
Despite years of negotiations since the 1994 ceasefire, the two sides
have not yet signed a final peace deal and there are still frequent
exchanges of gunfire along the front line.
Azerbaijan has threatened to use force to win back Karabakh if peace
talks fail to yield satisfactory results, but Armenia has warned of
large-scale retaliation against any military action.
On Wednesday Clinton is due to visit Baku, where officials said that
finding a resolution to the Karabakh conflict would be the main topic
of discussion.
"We expect good results from the meeting with Clinton," Azerbaijani
Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov told journalists.
Mammadyarov blamed Yerevan for thwarting progress toward a peace deal,
saying that "sometimes we cannot understand the Armenian side's logic".
The latest round of talks in Russia in January ended with promises
to speed up the process but failed to make any visible steps toward
signing a "basic principles" roadmap agreement, seen as key to any
settlement.
Agence France Presse
June 5 2012
BAKU - Armenian forces killed five Azerbaijani soldiers in a border
clash Tuesday, in a new flaring of tensions as US Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton visits the volatile Caucasus region.
The Azerbaijani defence ministry said fighting broke out when "a
group of Armenian saboteurs made an attempt to penetrate the military
positions of the national army" in the country's north-west -- the
second reported outbreak of deadly violence along the border between
the ex-Soviet enemies this week.
"During the fight, four soldiers of the Azerbaijani armed forces were
killed and another died as a result of the Armenians opening fire,"
the ministry said in a statement.
Armenia however blamed Azerbaijan for causing the violence, saying
that "a subversive group of 15 to 20 people attempted to infiltrate
Armenian territory.
"Thanks to the vigilance of the Armenian servicemen, the group was
discovered and neutralised. Five were killed and many others wounded
from the Azerbaijani side," the Armenian defence ministry said in a
statement, adding that none of its troops were injured.
On Monday, Armenia alleged that Azerbaijani forces had killed three of
its soldiers and wounded six more when an attempted military incursion
ended in a firefight on the border, a report Baku denied.
Azerbaijan and Armenia are locked in a long-running conflict over the
territory of Nagorny Karabakh, where they fought a war in the 1990s
that killed some 30,000 people.
Unusually, this week's clashes erupted well to the north of the
disputed region.
According to Azerbaijan's defence ministry, Tuesday's violence hit
the region west of the Azerbaijani town of Gazakh. The deadly clashes
on Monday also took place nearby.
Visiting Yerevan on Monday, Clinton said she was concerned by the
rising tensions and warned Armenia and Azerbaijan not to settle their
conflict by force.
"I am very concerned about the danger of escalation of tensions
and the senseless deaths of young soldiers and innocent civilians,"
she said after Monday's violence.
"The use of force will not resolve the Nagorny Karabakh conflict and
therefore force must not be used."
The Karabakh war saw Armenia-backed separatists seize the mountainous
enclave from Azerbaijan amid a bitter struggle that caused hundreds
of thousands of people to flee their homes in both countries.
Despite years of negotiations since the 1994 ceasefire, the two sides
have not yet signed a final peace deal and there are still frequent
exchanges of gunfire along the front line.
Azerbaijan has threatened to use force to win back Karabakh if peace
talks fail to yield satisfactory results, but Armenia has warned of
large-scale retaliation against any military action.
On Wednesday Clinton is due to visit Baku, where officials said that
finding a resolution to the Karabakh conflict would be the main topic
of discussion.
"We expect good results from the meeting with Clinton," Azerbaijani
Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov told journalists.
Mammadyarov blamed Yerevan for thwarting progress toward a peace deal,
saying that "sometimes we cannot understand the Armenian side's logic".
The latest round of talks in Russia in January ended with promises
to speed up the process but failed to make any visible steps toward
signing a "basic principles" roadmap agreement, seen as key to any
settlement.