AZERBAIJANI SOLDIER KILLED NEAR KARABAKH: OFFICIAL
Agence France Presse — English
January 28, 2008 Monday 11:18 AM GMT
Armenian forces have killed an Azerbaijani soldier near the disputed
region of Nagorny-Karabakh, the Azerbaijani defence ministry said
Monday.
Hatami Bahruz, 19, was killed when Armenian forces opened fire
on Azerbaijani positions in the Fizuli region overnight Monday,
violating a ceasefire, defence ministry spokesman Ilgar Verdiyev said.
Armenian forces seized control of Nagorny-Karabakh from Azerbaijan
in the early 1990s, in a war that claimed an estimated 30,000 lives
and forced about a million people on both sides to flee their homes.
The two sides signed a ceasefire in 1994, but 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.
In 2007, 13 Azerbaijani soldiers were killed along the ceasefire line,
Verdiyev said.