OSCE monitoring along contact line interrupted

Representatives from the both sides began monitoring.

The officials kept in contact via radio about the situation.

The Armenian forces later opened fire - allegedly at the Azerbaijani monitoring group. The group said the shots were deliberately aimed at them.

OSCE representative Andrzej Kasprzyk requested that the monitoring cease immediately.

He then told the monitoring group on the Armenian side to investigate the incident.

The monitoring was expected to be held in Azerbaijan by Kasprzyk and field assistants Pieter Ki and Vladimir Chountulov. On the opposite side of the contact line, which is officially recognized as Azerbaijani territory, the monitoring was to be held by OSCE field assistants Imre Palatinus and Irji Aberle.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan lost all of Nagorno-Karabakh except for Shusha and Khojali in December 1991. In 1992-93, Armenian armed forces occupied Shusha, Khojali and 7 districts surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh. Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire in 1994. The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group - Russia, France, and the U.S. - are currently holding the peace negotiations.

/Trend.Az/