BAKU, Azerbaijan, August 30. Armenia handed over the alleged remains of 138 Azerbaijanis who went missing during the first Karabakh war, Secretary, Head of the Working Group of Azerbaijan’s State Commission on Prisoners of War, Hostages and Missing Persons Ismayil Akhundov said, Trend reports.
Akhundov made the remark at a conference on "Identification of missing persons - humanitarian approach" dedicated to the International Day of the Missing Persons and organized by the state commission.
According to him, the commission registered 3,890 Azerbaijani citizens as persons missed in the first Karabakh war as a result of Armenia's military aggression against Azerbaijan. Of these, 3,171 were military servicemen, and 719 civilians. Of the civilians, 71 were minors, 267 women.
"Out of the total number of persons who missed in the first Karabakh war, 872 people, including 29 children, 98 women and 112 old people, were taken prisoner or remained in the occupied territories,” the working group’s head noted. “Prisoners and hostages who were subsequently released confirmed that they saw those people alive. Throughout the entire period of the conflict, Armenia hid information about these persons from international organizations.”
“Only after a trilateral statement signed on November 10, 2020 [following the second Karabakh war], the Armenian side handed over the mixed remains, which allegedly included 138 Azerbaijanis who went missing during the first Karabakh war,” Akhundov said.