Azerbaijan downs Russian helicopter in Armenia

Azerbaijani forces took control of a strategic city in the separatist territory of Nagorno-Karabakh and were nearing its capital, a spokesman for the region's government confirmed Monday. Meanwhile, Azerbaijan said it shot down a Russian helicopter over Armenia, far from the fighting. Two Russian servicemen were killed. The Russian helicopter was downed near the border with Nakhcivan, an exclave of Azerbaijan surrounded by Armenia, Turkey and Iran.

Russia's Defense Ministry said the helicopter was accompanying a military convoy, but didn't say what the purpose of the convoy was. Russia maintains a large military base in northern Armenia, about 90 miles (150 kilometers) from the site where the helicopter was downed. Azerbaijan attributed the war, night conditions and the tense situation as factors that led to the decision of its forces to shoot down the helicopter.

Nagorno-Karabakh lies within Azerbaijan but has been under the control of ethnic Armenian forces backed by the Armenian government since 1994 at the end of a separatist war following the breakup of the Soviet Union three years earlier. The latest outbreak of fighting started on September 27 and has left hundreds, if not thousands, dead.