Clashes Reported in Karabakh as Peace Talks Stall
Azerbaijani and Armenian forces clashed in the disputed enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh on Sunday while peace talks in Rome appeared to have collapsed.
A spokesman for the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry said Azerbaijani soldiers are fighting to retake villages in the enclave. Radio Russia quoted the ministry as saying at least 24 people have died since Saturday.
The Pro-Armenia news agency said Armenian forces are encircling Mardakert, the biggest town in the north of the mountainous enclave and scene of numerous clashes.
But the Armenians reportedly have not yet moved in on the town because they hope the Azerbaijani defenders will leave without bloodshed.
Armenia and Azerbaijan have been fighting a four-year war over Nagorno-Karabakh, a mainly Christian Armenian enclave located within predominantly Muslim Azerbaijan. More than 1,500 people have died as a result of fighting over the region between the two former Soviet republics.
A new round of peace talks on the territory got under way in Rome on Saturday, but Azerbaijan stormed out of the negotiations after the enclave’s Armenian delegation was invited to address the meeting.
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