Soviets Fire on Tankers Blockading Baku Port

Soviet tanks, artillery and warships today fired on oil tankers blockading the harbor of the Azerbaijani capital of Baku to protest the government’s military occupation of their war-torn republic, news and eyewitness reports said.

Yusif Samed-Ogli, a poet and member of the nationalist Popular Front, said he saw several vessels sunk during the 40-minute bombardment.

Soviet television reported that nationalists aboard the tankers attacked a marine passenger terminal in the harbor, where people wait to board ships.

“There was an exchange of fire,” Soviet TV said, and soldiers were wounded. It gave no further details of the harbor battle except to say a number of people were later detained.

Tass press agency reported that the blockade of the port by Azerbaijani extremists, which had lasted several days, had been lifted.

Before the battle, the captains aboard the tankers in the oil-producing Caspian Sea port had threatened to blow up their vessels if the Soviet military tried to break the blockade, an activist said.

Earlier today, Soviet troops trying to crush the nationalist uprising in Azerbaijan arrested 43 people and seized copy machines from the offices of unofficial groups during overnight raids in Baku, news reports said.

The media reported growing threats against the Russian population as Azerbaijanis reacted to Soviet troops sent to Baku to restore order.

Tass said the Soviet military has evacuated more than 16,000 soldiers’ dependents in the face of the threats.

Demonstrations and strikes were banned in Baku and activists were told they face 30 days in jail if they try to organize protests, Tass said. But the agency said a general strike called to demand the withdrawal of Soviet soldiers paralyzed factories and transport.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Gennady I. Gerasimov said militants continue to storm weapons depots and had stolen more than 5,000 guns and other items in the last two days in the southern republics of Armenia and Azerbaijan.