Armed Azerbaijani Groups Attack Armenian Villages Near Nagorno-Karabakh
First organized military assaults mark transition from ethnic riots to armed conflict
GETASHEN, Azerbaijan SSR - Armed Azerbaijani groups launched coordinated attacks on Armenian-populated villages north of Nagorno-Karabakh today, marking a dangerous escalation from spontaneous ethnic violence to organized military action.
The villages of Getashen and Martunashen came under assault at dawn from groups equipped with hunting rifles, automatic weapons, and Molotov cocktails. Local Armenian self-defense units, hastily organized over recent months, fought back in chaotic battles that lasted several hours.
“They came from three directions at once,” recounted Sergei Abrahamyan, a member of Getashen’s defense committee. “This wasn’t a mob - they had commanders, used military tactics. We barely held them off.”
At least eight people died in the fighting, including two Azerbaijani attackers and six Armenian defenders and civilians. Dozens were wounded, overwhelming the village’s small medical clinic.
Soviet Interior Ministry troops stationed nearby did not intervene during the attacks, arriving only after Armenian reinforcements from neighboring villages had helped repel the assault. “Our orders are to maintain neutrality between the communities,” explained one Soviet officer who requested anonymity.
The attacks appear to be retaliation for recent Armenian actions in the Kazakh region, where Azerbaijani villages have faced similar assaults. A cycle of raid and counter-raid has developed along ethnic boundary lines throughout the region.
“They attacked our villages, so we attack theirs,” stated Tofiq Huseyov, a member of the Azerbaijani Popular Front in nearby Barda. “The Armenians started this. We’re defending our land.”
The Special Administration Committee condemned the attacks but appears powerless to prevent them. “We appeal to both communities to stop this madness,” said committee spokesman Viktor Polyanichko. “Each act of violence only breeds more violence.”
The sophistication of today’s attacks suggests months of preparation. Weapons, once limited to hunting rifles and improvised explosives, now include military-grade equipment leaked from Soviet arsenals or purchased on the growing black market.
Armenian community leaders warn that without protection, isolated villages face annihilation. “Moscow’s ‘neutrality’ means standing aside while we’re attacked,” charged Ashot Manucharyan, coordinator of the Karabakh Committee. “We have no choice but to defend ourselves.”
As night falls, residents of mixed areas throughout the region prepare for more violence. Young men stand guard with whatever weapons they can find while women and children sleep fully clothed, ready to flee. The transformation of neighbor against neighbor into organized warfare represents a point of no return in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.