Soviet troops` aiding Khojaly massacre proven - Azeri prosecutor
BAKU – Azerbaijan` military prosecutor has said the involvement of Soviet troops in the Khojaly massacre committed by Armenian armed forces against Azerbaijanis in 1992 has been proven.
Khanlar Valiyev told the official Azerbaijan newspaper that decisions have been made to arraign the perpetrators on a slew of charges under Azerbaijan’s Criminal Code, including deportations of people, war crimes, torture, rapes, and sex slavery. Moreover, courts have ordered to arrest the culprits and documents have been filed to the Azerbaijani office of Interpol to search for them worldwide.
39 people are wanted internationally over the Khojaly massacre, with none of them detained so far.
Orders were issued to apprehend a total of 287 people in connection with crimes committed against Azerbaijanis, Valiyev said.
According to the prosecutor, during the invasion of the town of Khojaly 5,379 people were ousted from their homes, 613 people were brutally killed, including 106 women and 63 children, 8 families were annihilated, 487 people were injured, and 1,275 were taken captives. The fate of 150 of those captured, including 68 women and 26 children, is still unknown.
Valiyev added that Azerbaijan sustained damage worth over $170 million as a result of the Khojaly massacre.
Azerbaijan and Armenia fought a lengthy war that ended with the signing of a precarious cease-fire in 1994. Armenian armed forces have since occupied over 20 percent of Azerbaijan's territory, including Nagorno Karabakh, defying international calls and UN resolutions. Years of peace talks have been largely fruitless so far.