Armenia deliberately strikes at the populated areas of Azerbaijan

One of the topics for Armenian propaganda speculation during the days of the Karabakh war, which began on September 27, 2020, remains the death of civilians in Karabakh. Yerevan media daily report, and foreign websites and newspapers circulate about the allegedly targeted killing of the Armenian civilian population by the Azerbaijani army in the combat zone.

Official sources of Armenia report that from September 27 to October 22, 37 civilians died, 116 people were injured in the battle zone in Karabakh.Every day the General Prosecutor's Office of Azerbaijan reports on its website about civilian casualties outside the combat zone. As starting from September 27 to October 22, 2020, 63 civilians were killed and 298 wounded from artillery and missile attacks of the Armenian Armed Forces in Azerbaijan. In the city of Ganja alone, two ballistic missiles launched from the territory of Armenia (Vanadzor) on the night of October 11 and 17 killed 23 civilians and wounded 87 Ganja residents.

The difference in civilian casualties on the Azerbaijani side is almost twofold. It follows that the Azerbaijani army is trying not to fire on settlements in Nagorno-Karabakh. Khankendi (Stepanakert) was subjected to a rocket and artillery strike in response to the shelling of Terter and other Azerbaijani settlements outside the battle zone. At the same time, from the beginning of the fighting, the Azerbaijani government urged the civilian population to leave the combat zone in order to avoid casualties. A corridor was created, and through the corridor, the civilian population left for Armenia and there was not a single case of shelling of auto-caravans by the Azerbaijani army.

Armenia, on the other hand, subjected residential buildings to rocket fire at night when people were at home. This was done in order to achieve more casualties among the civilian population of Azerbaijan.

Ganja, Kurdamir, Sitalchay, Gabala, Ter-Ter, Barda and other cities and related Azerbaijani villages, which have been shelled, are 20-300 km from the nearest military positions of the Azerbaijani army. The distance between Ganja and Nagorno-Karabakh (Agdere city) is 132 km.

Since September 27, on the territory of Azerbaijan 2156, residential buildings have been damaged and destroyed on the territory of Azerbaijan from artillery and missile strikes.

Gandja - October 2020

Terter- October 2020

This is nothing more than a planned large-scale terrorist act at the state level.

Armenia accuses Azerbaijan of shelling settlements in Nagorno-Karabakh. However, as can be seen in the videos taken in the liberated Hadrut, Sugovshan (Madagiz), Talish, Dolanlar, military units of the Armenian army are located inside the settlements. In a number of cases, artillery batteries firing at Azerbaijani villages and cities are installed near or inside settlements in the occupied zone. The buildings in the villages and towns that have come under the control of the Azerbaijani army are not damaged. This can be seen in many photographs and videos taken in Karabakh villages and cities after their transfer to the control of the Azerbaijani army.

The targets of the missile attack from Armenia are also large economic objects in Azerbaijan: the Oguz-Gabala-Baku water pipeline, the hydroelectric power station in Mingachevir, and the cotton factory in Terter.

Gadrud - October 2020

Sugovushan (Madagiz) - October 2020

These facts testify to the strict adherence by the Azerbaijani military to the requirements of the Geneva Convention, adopted on August 12, 1949. Armenia also has ratified this Convention, but apparently, Armenia ignores it. Under the Convention, both countries have undertaken obligations during the alleged conflict not to fire at non-combatants, civilians under any circumstances and to organize their protection.

According to the requirement of the Convention, the shelling of civilian objects and the population during wars is prohibited; this is considered a war crime. The shelling of civilians and objects is prohibited in accordance with paragraph 1 of Article 52 of the 1st Protocol of August 12, 1949 to the Geneva Convention of August 12, 1949. According to international law and documents, the actions of the Armenians are terror.

Azerbaijan will submit an appeal to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in connection with the intentional missile strikes of the Armenian Armed Forces on the Azerbaijani civilian population.

“Every fact connected with the attacks of the Armenian Armed Forces on settlements and the civilian population of Azerbaijan is documented by the General Prosecutor’s Office, criminal cases are being initiated and materials are being collected,” Aide to the President of Azerbaijan Hikmet Hajiyev told the press on October 19.

“Every fact connected with the attacks of the Armenian Armed Forces on settlements and the civilian population of Azerbaijan is documented by the General Prosecutor’s Office, criminal cases are being initiated and materials are being collected,” Aide to the President of Azerbaijan Hikmet Hajiyev told the press on October 19.