Armenia Launches Drive Into Karabakh
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MOSCOW — Armenian forces have launched a major new offensive in the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh and captured at least two Azerbaijani-held villages, reports from both sides said Saturday.
The Armenian news agency Snark said Armenian fighters had won control of 11 settlements in the past two days, including Chldran, one of the largest in the north of the war-torn enclave. It said Azerbaijani forces were retreating in panic.
Azerbaijan’s Turan news agency said fierce fighting for strategic heights in the region raged overnight and on Saturday morning. It acknowledged the loss of Chldran and a second village, Syrkhavend.
More than 2,500 people have been killed in a five-year undeclared war between the two former Soviet republics.
The conflict focuses on Nagorno-Karabakh, a mountainous area that is mostly populated by Armenians but was placed under Azerbaijan’s jurisdiction by Soviet authorities in 1923.
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