Human remains exhumed from mass graves in Karabakh
By Vugar Khalilov
Azerbaijan’s Military Prosecutor's Office has stated that human remains discovered in mass graves have been exhumed in Karabakh, Trend reported on April 4.
The Military Prosecutor's Office of Azerbaijan, jointly with representatives of the State Security Service, the State Commission for the Affairs of Prisoners of War, Hostages and Missing Citizens, the International Committee of the Red Cross and other relevant agencies exhumed human remains from the mass graves discovered in Shusha region’s Dashalty village, Khojavand region’s Edilli village, Aghdam region’s Sirkhavand village, Khojaly region's Farrukh village and other territories, the report added.
The remains are thought to be of those who went missing during the first Karabakh war (1988-1994) with Armenia. The remains have been subjected to forensic, molecular, and genetic analyses, as well as other appropriate activities.
The Azerbaijani Military Prosecutor's Office has launched an investigation into the criminal case under the relevant articles of the Azerbaijani Criminal Code in connection with war crimes, terrorism, deliberate murders and other crimes against peace and humanity committed by Armenia’s armed forces and illegal Armenian armed groups against the Azerbaijani people.
The Azerbaijani Military Prosecutor's Office is conducting operational and investigative measures on a criminal case initiated under relevant Azerbaijani Criminal Code articles in connection with war crimes, terrorism, deliberate murders, and other crimes against peace and humanity committed by Armenia’s armed forces and illegal Armenian armed groups against the Azerbaijani people.
Several more body remains from the first Karabakh war (the 1990s) were unearthed during excavations in three areas around Farrukh village in Azerbaijan's Khojaly region on March 30.
The previous remains were discovered on March 29 during earthwork carried out by Azerbaijani servicemen in the village.
Military expert Adalat Verdiyev said that the discovery of human remains in Khojaly's Farrukh village once again demonstrates Armenia's anti-Azerbaijan atrocities.
“The remains found in Farrukh village may belong to our citizens who died during the genocide committed by Armenian armed forces in Khojaly [city], or in the battles for the village. We’ll know about this for sure only after the DNA examination,” Verdiyev underlined.
The expert stressed that almost the entire territory of Azerbaijan's Karabakh is covered with the blood of both Azerbaijani civilians and servicemen killed by Armenian armed forces in the early1990s.
Human remains were discovered several times during engineering and construction work on Azerbaijani territory recovered from Armenian occupation as a result of the 44-day war in 2020, he added.
"As the construction work in our liberated territories continues, such mass graves will be revealed. Despite the fact that 30 years have passed, thousands of our citizens will be able to learn about the fate of their relatives who went missing," Verdiyev said.
Along with Khojaly’s Farrukh village, a mass grave was also found in Khojavand region’s Edilli village, he said.
“One of the reasons why Armenians stubbornly refuse to leave the lands of Karabakh is the likelihood of finding the remains of most of the 4,000 Azerbaijanis who died during the first Karabakh war,” Verdiyev underlined.
The policy of ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity carried out by Armenian armed forces against Azerbaijanis in the First Karabakh War is well known.
The Karabakh region bears the scars of these atrocities. Eyewitness testimony and research in Azerbaijani-controlled areas of the region have shown the presence of mass graves in the former Nagorno-Karabakh territory, proving such crimes.
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