Azernews.Az

BAKU – The UNICEF representation in Azerbaijan strongly condemns the killings of two Azerbaijani children on the contact line with Armenian troops in past months, its head, Mark Hereward, has said.

"We are very disappointed with these incidents, because if any child death occurs with such violence, this is a dire tragedy," Hereward said.

Fariz Badalov, a nine-year-old resident of Azerbaijan’s Aghdam region, was shot in the head by a sniper while playing in the courtyard on March 8 in a ceasefire violation by Armenian troops.

Aygun Shahmaliyeva, a 13-year-old resident of the western Tovuz region bordering on Armenia, was killed on July 14 while playing with a toy with a built-in explosive floated by Armenians through a river.

Azerbaijan and Armenia fought a lengthy war in the early 1990s. About 20 percent of Azerbaijani territory has been under the occupation of Armenian armed forces since a ceasefire was signed in 1994. Peace talks, brokered by the United States, Russia and France through the OSCE Minsk Group, have been largely fruitless so far.