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3 ARMENIAN TROOPS KILLED IN CLASHES WITH AZERIS NEAR BREAKAWAY REGION
The Moscow Times
March 19 2015
YEREVAN/BAKU (Reuters) -- At least three Armenian soldiers were killed
and four wounded in clashes with troops from Azerbaijan on Thursday
near the breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh region, but the two sides gave
conflicting death tolls and disputed who was to blame.
Nagorno-Karabakh lies inside Azerbaijan but is controlled by its
majority ethnic Armenians and is a regular point of friction between
the two neighbors, who fought a war over it in the early 1990s.
Renewed violence this year along the border area has underlined the
risk of a wider conflict breaking out in the South Caucasus, which
is crossed by oil and gas pipelines.
The separatist region's defense ministry said in a statement that
three Armenian soldiers had died after Azeri commandos attacked their
position. "The Armenian side forced the enemy to escape after a two
hour clash," the statement said.
Azerbaijan's Defence Ministry accused separatists of triggering the
confrontation and said 20 Armenian soldiers had been killed or wounded.
Fighting over Nagorno-Karabakh erupted in 1991 as the Soviet Union
broke up, with some 30,000 people dying in the war before a cease-fire
was called in 1994. Attempts at securing a lasting peace settlement
have failed, despite mediation led by France, Russia and the United
States.
Nagorno-Karabakh has run its own affairs with heavy military and
financial backing from Armenia since 1994. Armenian-backed forces
also hold seven Azeri districts surrounding the region.
Oil-producing Azerbaijan, host to global majors including BP, Chevron
and ExxonMobil, frequently threatens to take the mountain region back
by force, and is spending heavily on its armed forces.
Armenia, an ally of Russia, says it would not stand by if
Nagorno-Karabakh were attacked.
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/3-armenian-troops-killed-in-clashes-with-azeris-near-breakaway-region/517718.html
The Moscow Times
March 19 2015
YEREVAN/BAKU (Reuters) -- At least three Armenian soldiers were killed
and four wounded in clashes with troops from Azerbaijan on Thursday
near the breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh region, but the two sides gave
conflicting death tolls and disputed who was to blame.
Nagorno-Karabakh lies inside Azerbaijan but is controlled by its
majority ethnic Armenians and is a regular point of friction between
the two neighbors, who fought a war over it in the early 1990s.
Renewed violence this year along the border area has underlined the
risk of a wider conflict breaking out in the South Caucasus, which
is crossed by oil and gas pipelines.
The separatist region's defense ministry said in a statement that
three Armenian soldiers had died after Azeri commandos attacked their
position. "The Armenian side forced the enemy to escape after a two
hour clash," the statement said.
Azerbaijan's Defence Ministry accused separatists of triggering the
confrontation and said 20 Armenian soldiers had been killed or wounded.
Fighting over Nagorno-Karabakh erupted in 1991 as the Soviet Union
broke up, with some 30,000 people dying in the war before a cease-fire
was called in 1994. Attempts at securing a lasting peace settlement
have failed, despite mediation led by France, Russia and the United
States.
Nagorno-Karabakh has run its own affairs with heavy military and
financial backing from Armenia since 1994. Armenian-backed forces
also hold seven Azeri districts surrounding the region.
Oil-producing Azerbaijan, host to global majors including BP, Chevron
and ExxonMobil, frequently threatens to take the mountain region back
by force, and is spending heavily on its armed forces.
Armenia, an ally of Russia, says it would not stand by if
Nagorno-Karabakh were attacked.
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/3-armenian-troops-killed-in-clashes-with-azeris-near-breakaway-region/517718.html