1,105 Azerbaijanis killed, over 1,180 injured due to Armenian terrorism

1,105 people were killed, and over 1,180 were injured as a result of the Armenian terrorism against Azerbaijanis, Ilgar Safarov, senior assistant of the Prosecutor General for special tasks, told a joint briefing held by the Prosecutor General's Office and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the crimes committed against Azerbaijan by the Armenian armed forces and illegal Armenian armed groups since 1988, Report informs.

According to him, as a result of the territorial claims and military intervention of the Armenian SSR against the Azerbaijan SSR since February 1988, and the restoration of independence in 1991, the Armenian state committed war crimes against the Azerbaijan state: "Each of these crimes was investigated by the prosecutor's office, criminal cases were launched under various articles of the Criminal Code, evidence was collected, some of the perpetrators were identified and brought to justice, and fair court sentences were issued."

At the same time, decisions were made to prosecute several persons who had committed a crime, and they were declared internationally wanted. Regular actions are being taken to identify those persons and hold them accountable.

Criminal events committed by Armenian armed groups can be classified in several directions, and terrorist acts resulting in mass casualties should be specially mentioned in this regard."

Safarov said that 1,105 people were killed, and over 1,180 were injured as a result of 38 terrorist attacks committed in 10 buses, 11 cars, 1 car convoy, 2 trucks, 6 passenger trains, 2 subway trains, 2 helicopters, 1 airplane, and 1 sea ferry in 1988-94.

"During one of those terrorist attacks, on November 20, 1991, near the village of Karakend, Khojavand district, Armenian military units shot down an Azerbaijani MI-8 military helicopter killing 22 people, including Secretary of State of Azerbaijan Tofig Ismayilov, Prosecutor General Ismat Gayibov, State Adviser, Minister of Internal Affairs, Mahammad Asadov, MPs Vagif Jafarov, and Vali Mammadov, Deputy Prime Minister Zulfu Hajiyev, Head of the Information Department of the Presidential Administration and journalist Osman Mirzayev, Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan Saylau Serikov, and a journalist of Azerbaijan State Television, Ali Mustafayev.

Even on March 18, 1994, 34 diplomats and their family members were killed when a Hercules aircraft of the Iranian Air Force was shot down near the city of Khankendi, as it was believed to belong to Azerbaijan," he stressed.