Armenia says soldier killed by Azerbaijani sniper at border

 
The Associated PressPublished: January 22, 2007

YEREVAN, Armenia: The Armenian Defense Ministry said one of its soldiers was shot and killed Monday by an Azerbaijan sniper at the countries’ border, but Azerbaijan denied it.

The Armenian soldier was serving near the village of Berd, about 210 kilometers (130 miles) northeast of the capital Yerevan, when he was shot in the head, a Defense Ministry statement said. He died en route to a hospital, it said.

Azerbaijani military spokesman Ramiz Melikov said Azerbaijani forces had not violated a 1994 cease-fire, unlike, he said, Armenia.

“Having occupied our lands, they have begun an undeclared war against the Azerbaijani people and are trying to blame us,” Melikov told The Associated Press.

On Friday, Azerbaijani officials accused Armenian forces of killing an Azerbaijani soldier near Nagorno-Karabakh — a disputed mountainous territory inside Azerbaijan that is controlled by Karabakh and Armenian forces, along with some surrounding areas.