Mass grave of civilians discovered in Kalbajar

Baku/26.04.21/Turan: On Monday, the Prosecutor General's Office of Azerbaijan announced the discovery of a mass grave site of civilians in the village of Bashlabel, Kalbajar region, who were killed by the Armenian invaders during the occupation of Kalbajar in April 1993.

The Armenians attacked this village, numbering 259 homes and almost 2 thousand population on April 3, 1993. Civilians fled, but 62 elderly people and children could not escape and took refuge in caves near the village. The entire area was occupied and the people surrounded by Armenians hid in caves until April 18, when the Armenians found them. The invaders killed 12 people, including two children, and took 14 people hostage. The rest managed to escape. A few days later, those who fled returned at night and buried the bodies of their fellow villagers.

The Prosecutor General's Office of Azerbaijan carried out an exhumation at the burial site and found the bodies of those killed. Samples taken for DNA analysis and identification. The necessary investigative measures and interrogations of the witnesses of the crime are being carried out.

* The Kalbajar region of Azerbaijan was occupied during the fighting in early April 1993. 60 thousand inhabitants became refugees; hundreds were killed and died of cold in the mountains.

The forces of the Armenian invaders were commanded by the well-known terrorist Monte Melkonyan, whose monument still stands in the Martuni village of Nagorno-Karabakh. -02D-