YEREVAN (Noyan Tapan)–According to a statement released by the press service of the Foreign Ministry of Nagorno-Karabakh–during routine monitoring of the Karabakh-Azerbaijan front-line–monitors at the Kourobadkino village of the Martuni region were fired at from the Azeri side at 1:44 a.m. on Tuesday–February 17.
During a meeting with a Karabakh News and Information Department official–Byorn Lauritsen–special envoy of the OSCE chairman–and military official Miroslav Khokhalachek–participants of the monitoring of the front-line–confirmed the Azeri-initiated machine-gun attack which wounded the Karabakh official accompanying the OSCE representatives. Through radio communication–Anchey Kasperchik–personal assistant to the OSCE chairman–also confirmed the violation of the cease-fire on behalf of the Azeris. He was monitoring the front-line from the Azeri side.
Even though Lauritsen and Khokhalachek were witnesses to the event–they were reluctant in answering questions posed by a Karabakh News and Information Department official–claiming that they could not dismiss information without the permission of OSCE Chairman Kasperchik. They only conveyed that due to the machine-gun fire the monitoring was halted–the wounded Karabakh official was transported to a hospital and the OSCE delegation returned to Stepanakert.
According to the wounded Karabakh official–it was a miracle that the OSCE representatives were not hurt during the attack.