Azernews.Az

By Sara Rajabova

The U.S. congressman has highlighted the United States' role in the resolution of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Congressman Pete Olson made remarks while addressing the Congress in connection with the 22nd anniversary of the Khojaly tragedy, the Azerbaijani Embassy in the U.S. reported.

Commemorating the victims of the Khojaly tragedy, Olson stressed the importance of increasing the efforts by the U.S. side to facilitate the resolution to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict in accordance with international law.

The Assembly of the Friends of Azerbaijan - AFAZ in the U.S. played a special role in the presentation of the address.

On February 25-26, 1992, the town of Khojaly, the second largest town in the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan, came under intense fire from the towns of Khankendi and Askeran already occupied by the Armenian armed forces.

The Armenian armed forces, supported by the ex-Soviet 366th regiment, occupied and ruined by heavy artillery shelling the town of Khojali on February 26, 1992.

As many as 613 civilians mostly women and children were killed in the massacre, and a total of 1,000 people were disabled. Eight families were exterminated, 25 children lost both parents, and 130 children lost one parent.

Moreover, 1,275 innocent people were taken hostage, and the fate of 150 of them remains unknown. Civilians were shot at close range, scalped, and burned alive. Some had their eyes gouged out and others were beheaded.