A senior Kazakh government official had assured the Kyrgyz government in late May that there would be no further disruptions in supplies. No explanation has been given for the postponement. Azerbaijani agencies said that 300 Armenian troops mounted an offensive using firearms, mortars, and heavy machine guns in a series of unsuccessful attempts to capture Azerbaijani positions, but retreated after sustaining severe casualties. According to an Armenian Defense Ministry spokesman, Armenian forces opened fire in order to repulse an Azerbaijani attack. He said two Armenian soldiers were wounded in the fighting.
Azerbaijani sources give their losses as two killed and four wounded.
The exchange of fire was the most serious incident on the line of contact since the summer of 1997. Turan on 14 June quoted unnamed sources as saying that on his doctors' advice, President Heidar Aliev will not travel to Luxembourg to attend the 22 June summit of Transcaucasus presidents. Prime Minister Artur Rasizade will represent Azerbaijan at that meeting, which Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze told journalists on 14 June is of a ''consultative'' character. The main objective of the meeting is the ratification of agreements between the three South Caucasus states and the European Union. Aliev was also scheduled to discuss the Karabakh conflict with his Armenian counterpart Robert Kocharian.