BAKU, Azerbaijan, Oct.20
By Samir Ali - Trend:
Twenty-five civilians have been killed in Azerbaijan’s Ganja city since September 27 as a result of provocations committed by units of Armenian Armed Forces, the city’s Executive Office told Trend.
According to the office since October 4, 2020, the forces have been constantly subjecting the city to missile attacks. As a result of the strike on the center of Ganja at about 02:00 (GMT +4) on October 11, with the use of the Scud-B tactical missile, residential buildings were destroyed, 10 people were killed, including five women, 35 civilians were injured, including six children and 16 women.
In general, from October 4 to October 11, eleven civilians were killed, over 70 people were injured of varying degrees of severity, seven residential buildings were completely destroyed, and serious damage was caused to the Grand Caucasus shopping center and hundreds of facilities.
As a result of the Armenian attack on Ganja, three children lost both parents. Moreover, heavy damage was inflicted on the city’s cultural facilities (Nizami cinema), educational institutions (five schools and six kindergartens - nurseries, the building of the Ganja Music College), historical (building of Azerbaijan State Agrarian University which formerly functioned as ‘Men's Gymnasium’), religious monuments of local and state significance (the Russian Orthodox Church of Alexander Nevsky, which was built in 1887, the Imamzade religious-architectural complex of monuments dating back to the XIV century) and others.
At nearly 01:00 on October 17, the Armenian Armed Forces once again made a missile attack on Ganja. According to the Agency for Mine Clearance of the Territories of Azerbaijan (ANAMA), the strike was made with the Elbrus tactical ballistic missile (Scud by NATO qualification). As a result of this aggression of the Armenian military-political leadership, 14 civilians were killed, including children, 55 people were injured, 20 houses were completely destroyed, adjacent buildings, objects, including four kindergartens - a nursery, one school, and one children's clinic were damaged.
In general, from October 4, 2020, to date, as a result of the Armenian aggression in Ganja, 25 civilians were killed, over 100 civilians received injuries of varying severity.
Armenian Armed Forces launched a large-scale military attack on positions of the Azerbaijani army on the front line, using large-caliber weapons, mortars, and artillery on Sept. 27.
Azerbaijan responded with a counter-offensive along the entire front. As a result of retaliation, Azerbaijani troops liberated a number of territories previously occupied by Armenia, as well as take important, strategic heights under control.
The fighting continued into October 2020, in the early days of which Armenia has launched missile attacks on Azerbaijani cities of Ganja, Mingachevir, Khizi as well as Absheron district.
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, the Armenian Armed Forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.
The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on the withdrawal of its armed forces from Nagorno Karabakh and the surrounding districts.