Nagorno-Karabakh residents evacuated from homes

Nagor-Karabakh residents are fleeing ir vills as fighting intensifies and Azerbaijani forces near.

In territorial capital Stepanakert, a group of people boarded a bus bound for Armenia to escape fighting.

“I don't want to leave. I want to stay home in vill but y told us that we should leave,” said Valya Sogomonyan, who fled her vill in Askeran region.

“Azerbaijanis are shelling our vill. We are leaving our house and all our things behind,” she ded.

Nagor-Karabakh lies within Azerbaijan but has been under control of ethnic Armenian forces backed by Armenia since a war re ended in 1994. In that war, Armenian forces also seized several regions of Azerbaijan around Nagor-Karabakh, creating a buffer zone around territory.

Azerbaijani forces pushed deeper into Nagor-Karabakh on Friday as top diplomats from Armenia and Azerbaijan were scheduled to attend talks in Geneva intended to help broker an end to more than a month of heavy fighting over separatist territory.

Intense clashes were going on in south of Nagor-Karabakh, Armenia's Defense Ministry said.

Azerbaijani military reported that areas in Terter and Gubli regions of Azerbaijan came under Armenian shelling.

On Thursday, Nagor-Karabakh's separatist leer said Azerbaijani troops h vanced to within 5 kilometers (about 3 miles) of a strategically located town just south of region's capital, Stepanakert.

He urged residents to mobilize all ir resources to fend off attack on Shushi, a town which sits on main ro linking Nagor-Karabakh with Armenia.

According to Nagor-Karabakh officials, 1,166 of ir troops and 39 civilians have been killed.

Azerbaijani authorities haven't disclosed ir military losses, but say fighting has killed at least 90 civilians and wounded 392.