Karabakh Calls an Emergency as Azerbaijanis Gain
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MOSCOW — Nagorno-Karabakh introduced a state of emergency Thursday and ordered a general mobilization as Azerbaijani forces closed in on the key town of Mardakert in the disputed territory, news reports said.
The state of emergency is to last for one month.
Russia’s Itar-Tass news agency also said that the Parliament of Nagorno-Karabakh, which is composed mainly of ethnic Armenians, called for a guerrilla war against Azerbaijani forces.
Armenian forces said they have retaken two Nagorno-Karabakh villages in fighting that left about 20 Armenians and 200 Azerbaijani soldiers dead.
Clashes in the past week between revitalized Azerbaijani forces and Armenian militants have been some of the heaviest in more than four years of fighting in Nagorno-Karabakh, an enclave inside Azerbaijan.
The week-old Azerbaijani offensive follows the election earlier this month of Abulfez Elchibey as president. The leader of the hawkish Popular Front has pledged to take back all territory lost by his country in the war with Armenia.
In May, Armenia won control of all major towns in the region and opened a corridor to the enclave across Azerbaijani territory.
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