Azerbaijan troops ‘all around’ Karabakh's Stepanakert, people ‘hiding’

Azerbaijani troops are on the edge of Nagorno-Karabakh’s separatist stronghold of Stepanakert, prompting residents to hide in basements in fear, a rebel envoy told AFP on Friday.

“The situation in Stepanakert is horrible, Azerbaijani troops are all around the city, they are on the outskirts and people fear Azerbaijani soldiers could enter the city at any moment and start killings,” separatist spokeswoman Armine Hayrapetyan said, adding that people were “hiding in basements.”