Azerbaijan's Roman Catholic Church: Perpetrators of Khojaly genocide will be punished
By Rashid Shirinov
The Khojaly Genocide is the greatest injustice against humanity, said Vladimir Fekete, the Ordinary of the Roman Catholic Church's Apostolic Prefecture in Azerbaijan.
Fekete, addressing an event at the Caucasus Muslims Office on February 21, said that people in Khojaly were subjected to genocide, and added that he will always pray for them.
“The perpetrators of the Khojaly genocide will be punished. God will punish them,” he stressed.
The town of Khojaly was situated within the administrative borders of the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan. Its population constituted over 7,000 people.
Late into the night of February 25, 1992, Khojaly came under intensive fire from the towns of Khankendi and Askeran already occupied by Armenian armed forces. The Armenian forces, supported by the ex-Soviet 366th regiment, completed the surrounding of the town already isolated due to ethnic cleansing of the Azerbaijani population of the neighboring regions. The joint forces occupied the town, which was ruined by heavy artillery shelling.
Thousands of fleeing civilians were ambushed by the Armenian forces. Punitive teams of the so-called Nagorno-Karabakh defense army reached the unprotected civilians to slaughter them, mutilating and scalping some of the bodies. 613 people were killed, including 106 women, 70 elderly and 83 children. A total of 1,000 civilians were disabled. Eight families were exterminated, and 25 children lost both parents, while 130 children lost one parent. Moreover, 1,275 innocent people were taken hostage, while the fate of 150 remains unknown.
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Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov
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