Azerbaijan, Baku, 26 February / Trend corr A. Ismayilova / On the morning of 26 February, the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev laid a wreath on the Monument to commemorate the victims of the Khojali Genocide. Top officials, public figures and representatives of diplomatic missions also placed wreaths on the monument.
On the night of 25 to 26 February 1992 the Azerbaijani settlement of Nagorno-Karabakh, Khojali, was occupied by Armenian separatists, with active participation of military personnel and army tanks of the 366th regiment of the Russian army. In a matter of several hours, more than 600 unarmed Azerbaijani citizens, including 106 women and 83 children, were brutally killed. The annihilation of the peaceful people continued for several days during which time the Armenians executed and killed prisoners, committed violence against women and children, cut off the heads of Azerbaijani military prisoners and had them hung up. During this crime, 487 people, including 76 juveniles were physically disabled and 1,275 people were taken prisoner. Despite the release of most of the prisoners, the fate of 150 people is still unknown.