Azerbaijan Forces Shell Secessionist Armenian Enclave

STEPANAKERT, Azerbaijan â€”  Military forces of Azerbaijan besieging the secessionist Armenian enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh pounded its capital and other towns with rockets and cannon fire this week in an intensifying civil conflict--the most violent in the former Soviet Union.

Since Sunday, Azerbaijani forces have fired from ridges around this city into virtually every Stepanakert neighborhood, killing at least five people, residents said. The government of Nagorno-Karabakh--populated mostly by Christian Armenians--is committed to uniting the region with Armenia. The region is surrounded by Azerbaijan, which is mostly Muslim.

Government officials here said the attacks were some of the most intense since Azerbaijani forces began shelling Armenian towns Nov. 20. At least 20 people have died in shelling or sniping attacks since the beginning of the year, the officials said.

The shelling comes as Stepanakert--a city of 70,000--is running out of food and fuel after months of blockade of the enclave by Azerbaijan. In a declaration Saturday, the Nagorno-Karabakh legislature appealed for international pressure on Azerbaijan to halt attacks and lift the siege. This city’s only public links to the outside are irregular helicopter flights to the Armenian capital of Yerevan.