US concerned by Azeri-Armenian tensions

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton voiced concern on Monday that violence between Armenia and Azerbaijan could lead to a broader regional conflict as three Armenian soldiers died in a border incident.   

Clinton began a trip to the South Caucasus region by calling on all sides to renounce violence as the former Soviet republics traded accusations over a clash that killed the Armenian soldiers and wounded troops on both sides of their border.   

"I am very concerned by these incidents and have called on all parties, all actors, to refrain from the use or threat of force," Clinton told reporters at a news conference with Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian.   

"There is a danger that it could escalate into a much broader conflict that would be very tragic for everyone concerned," she added.   

War between ethnic Azeris and Armenians erupted in 1991 over the mostly Armenian Nagorno-Karabakh region, which broke away from Muslim Azerbaijan with the backing of Christian Armenia as the Soviet Union collapsed two decades ago.   

Sporadic violence still flares along a ceasefire line negotiated in 1994. Some 30,000 people were killed and about 1 million became refugees, the majority in Azerbaijan.   

The last three years have seen skirmishes mainly on the frontline around Nagorno-Karabakh, raising fears of a return to full-blown conflict in the South Caucasus, an important route for oil and gas from the Caspian region to Europe.   

The latest incident, however, took place more than 400 kms (250 miles) away from Nagorno-Karabakh.   

Clinton met Armenian President Serzh Sarksyan and Nalbandian during a roughly five-hour visit to Yerevan. Speaking in the Aremenian capital, Clinton urged Armenia and Turkey, whose border has been closed since 1993, to normalize relations.  

AP