Azerbaijan asks Tehran for help as Armenians advance

AZERI TROOPS mustering in the mountains north of Kelbadzhar, close to the Azerbaijan border with Armenia, during a lull in fighting. Yesterday, Azerbaijan said that Armenian forces had captured 18 villages and key mountain points in south-west Azerbaijan, while Armenia said it lost five soldiers and 12 Azerbaijani fighters died in heavy combat near Nagorny Karabakh.

The Iranian news agency Irna reported that the Azeri ambassador in Tehran had asked Iran for help to prevent the fall of the strategic town of Fizuli, which is under heavy bombardment from Armenian forces.

Photograph: Patrick Pope

(Photograph omitted)