The Kremlin Wednesday authorized the thousands of soldiers it sent to the Caucasus to open fire if necessary on Armenians and Azerbaijanis fighting in the hills near the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh. Thousands of Armenian refugees poured from the southern republic of Azerbaijan, many beaten or chased from their homes by angry mobs. Some blamed the attacks on Azerbaijanis who earlier fled ethnic violence in Armenia. The death toll rose to 58, mostly Armenians, and the number of injured to 169 in five days of civil warfare, an Interior Ministry official said. Four burned bodies were found in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, the official news agency Tass said Wednesday. Eighteen Armenian residents were injured in Azerbaijan in the past 24 hours.
