Civilian death toll in Armenian attacks reaches 91

By Ayya Lmahamad

Ninety-one civilians have been killed, 322 injured previously in Armenia's heavy artillery attacks on Azerbaijan’s densely populated areas since September 27, and about 70 more injured in a recent attack on Barda city on October 28, the Prosecutor General’s Office has reported.

As of morning of October 28, as a result of the shelling of civilian infrastructure facilities by the occupying country's armed forces, 2,338 houses and 92 multi-apartment residential buildings, as well as 415 civilian facilities were severely damaged.

Vehicles belonging to civilians became unserviceable, and numerous small and large horned animals and haystacks were destroyed as well.

On October 27, Armenia launched a missile attack at Barda region, as a result of which 5 civilians, including child, were killed and 13 civilians, including women and children, seriously wounded. In addition, on October 28, Armenian launched another missile attack at Barda region, as a result of which 21 civilians were killed and about 70 wounded.

The missile attack on civilian population came after US-mediated cease-fire agreement that was announced on October 25. Thus, Armenia grossly violated the humanitarian ceasefire already for third time.

Moreover, as of October 23, as a consequence of rocket and heavy artillery attacks on October 4,11 and 17, a total of 25 civilians were killed and 139 were injured in Ganja city. The city's civil infrastructure facilities and vehicles were inflicted extensive damage.

Furthermore, 7 civilians were killed and 10 were injured in Goranboy region. On September 27, as a result of shrapnel hitting the yard of a private house in Naftalan region, all members of one family (5 civilians) were killed.

Likewise, 16 civilians were killed and 50 were injured in Tartar region, 6 civilians were killed and 25 were injured in Barda region, 2 civilians were killed and 2 were injured in Beylagan region, one civilian was killed and 19 were injured in Aghjabadi region, 3 civilians were killed and 17 were injured in Fuzuli region, 7 civilians were killed and 40 were injured in Aghdam region and 5 civilians were injured in Mingachevir region. In addition, in Dasheksan, Jabrayil, Khojali and Gabala regions one civilian was injured in each.

Armenian armed forces launched a large-scale operation in the front-line zone on September 27 at 6 am, shelling the positions of the Azerbaijani army from large-calibre weapons, mortars, and artillery installations of various calibres. Armenia has been targeting Azerbaijan’s densely populated areas and infrastructure projects.

Azerbaijan and Armenia are locked in a conflict over Azerbaijan’s Nagorno-Karabakh breakaway region, which along with seven adjacent regions was occupied by Armenian forces in a war in the early 1990s. More than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed and around one million were displaced as a result of the large-scale hostilities.

The OSCE Minsk Group co-chaired by the United States, Russia and France has been mediating the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict since the signing of the volatile cease-fire agreement in 1994. The Minsk Group’s efforts have resulted in no progress and to this date, Armenia has failed to abide by the UN Security Council resolutions (822, 853, 874 and 884) that demand the withdrawal of Armenian military forces from the occupied territories of Azerbaijan.

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Ayya Lmahamad is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @AyyaLmahamad

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