Azerbaijanis, Armenians Clash Again in Enclave

Azerbaijani and Armenian forces clashed Friday in Nagorno-Karabakh, killing at least five people in heavy fighting for control of the enclave that is claimed by both countries, news agencies reported.

Quoting the Armenian News Service, Russian Television reported that the Azerbaijani army had launched a wide-scale offensive against Armenian areas of Nagorno-Karabakh.

Tension escalated this week in Nagorno-Karabakh, a region populated mainly by Armenians that is located entirely inside Azerbaijan’s borders, following the crash Wednesday of an Azerbaijani helicopter carrying civilians, killing up to 40 people including women and children.

The Azerbaijani government claimed that Armenians shot down the helicopter using a heat-seeking missile. Azerbaijani President Ayaz Mutalibov said “decisive measures” will be taken to halt Armenian attacks. The Armenians have denied shooting down the helicopter, saying its forces do not have missiles.

Azerbaijan also said its “forces of self-defense” attacked Armenian positions Friday, according to an Azerbaijani news agency, Turan. Azerbaijan said the attack followed an Armenian assault on two Azerbaijani villages Thursday night, Turan reported from the Azerbaijani capital, Baku.

Each side claimed the other was using armored vehicles and helicopters in the battle, according to the news agency reports, which could not immediately be confirmed independently.

Turan said five Azerbaijani fighters were killed and 52 wounded in the fighting. There was no immediate word on Armenian losses.

The two sides have been fighting over Nagorno-Karabakh for nearly four years. Hundreds of people have been killed and thousands wounded.

The Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh have proclaimed the independence of the region that they claim is part of ancient Armenia. Azerbaijan, which was awarded the territory by Soviet authorities in 1923, says the territory belongs to it and that it will not cede it.

The undeclared war between the two rivals escalated following Russia’s decision in December to withdraw former Soviet military units from the area.

All efforts to mediate the conflict--including a peace mission by Russian President Boris N. Yeltsin and Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev--have failed.

Mutalibov of Azerbaijan on Jan. 2 imposed direct rule on Nagorno-Karabakh, putting local governments under his control. Armenian leaders in Nagorno-Karabakh on Jan. 19 formally declared independence from Azerbaijan and said they want to join the new Commonwealth of Independent States.

(In a statement issued from its Glendale, Calif., offices, the Armenian National Committee/Western Region said it “is outraged by the offensive” launched on the enclave Friday and “condemns the Azerbaijani government for using military force against civilians. . . .”)