UNHCR Evaluation Mission visit Azerbaijani settlements shelled by Armenians
By Gunay Camal
An evaluation mission including representatives of the legal bureau of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Azerbaijan office Alexander Novikau, Oliver Tuholske and Elsevar Agayev have visited Tartar region, which was recently intensively shelled by Armenian troops.
They have familiarized with the needs of people, who temporary changed their place of residence in the wake of the recent incidents on the troops’ line of contact, Azertac reports.
Head of Tartar District Executive Authorities Mustagim Mammadov informed the UNHCR representatives about the recent incidents on the frontline. He said the residential areas in the district were subjected to heavy shelling as Armenian armed units violated ceasefire.
“256 houses, 4 schools, 2 medical centers, a kindergarten were damaged, while 32 houses were destroyed completely as a result of the shelling,” he said, adding that 7 civilians were wounded, and 2 IDPs were killed.
Mammadov reminded that shelling Azerbaijani civilians, Armenian armed units ignored the resolutions of the UN.
The UNHCR representatives then visited Gapanli village which was mostly damaged by the Armenian units, and met with residents and IDPs whose houses were destroyed.
On the night of April 2, 2016, all the frontier positions of Azerbaijan were subjected to heavy fire from the Armenian side, which used large-caliber weapons, mortars and grenade launchers. The armed clashes resulted in deaths and injuries among the Azerbaijani population. Azerbaijan responded with a counter-attack, which led to liberation of several strategic heights and settlements.
The hostilities in the contact line of troops renewed on April 24 as a result of the Armenian provocation. Despite the Russia-brokered agreement achieved on April 5, Armenia violated ceasefire with Azerbaijan by shelling its positions and civilians using prohibited weapons.
The Armenian military units have shelled Azerbaijan’s Terter district, including Gapanli village on April 26 from 01:05 to 04:25 (UTC/GMT +4 hours).
Baku has repeatedly called on Armenia to abstain from violence, but Yerevan keeps ignoring all the appeals.
Azerbaijan’s State Commission on Prisoners of War has informed the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) of these acts that are contrary to the norms of international law and rules of war, and urged on the Armenian side to avoid atrocities against civilians.
Moreover, the Foreign Ministry has sent letters to the UN and OSCE urging the heads of international organizations to strongly condemn Armenia for violating the ceasefire agreement and to demand Armenia’s complying with the undertaken commitments and withdraw its troops from the occupied territories of Azerbaijan.
Armenia captured Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding districts from Azerbaijan in a war that followed the Soviet breakup in 1991. More than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed and nearly 1 million were displaced as a result of the war. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the occupied territories.
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