The Khojaly Massacre
Khojaly was the second largest town in Nagorno-Karabakh, with a total area of 7.5km2, and was home to the only airport in the region. The Khojaly population before Armenia’s territorial claim was 23,757, but this had dwindled to 2,500 before that fateful February day. The situation in February 1992 was exceptionally bleak for Khojaly – there were no telecommunications, electricity, paraffin or water, and all food, other than locally-grown potatoes, ran out on 21 February. Escaping these dire conditions was not easy. The roads from Khojaly to surrounding Azerbaijan had been cut off, blockaded by Armenian forces and troops of the former USSR that were still in Nagorno-Karabakh, making helicopter access the only way to reach the town, and this attracted constant Armenian gunfire. The only other option for the Khojaly population was to flee the town on foot, which was an arduous, treacherous journey to safety. The inhabitants of Khojaly were at their most vulnerable on 26 February 1992[EP1].
On the eve of 25 February, Armenian armed forces began what they anticipated would be a final takeover of the area. Khojaly residents were told that if they evacuated they would be granted safe passage – they were soon to discover that this was a horrific act of deception. As the entire town’s population began to flee Khojaly, Armenian armed forces and members of the No. 366 Soviet motorised rifle regiment confronted them on the border. Armenian armed forces met the townspeople with fierce gunfire. The terrified and unarmed population, the majority of whom were woman and children, were slaughtered.
During the massacre, Armenian armed forces murdered 613 innocent Azerbaijanis, including 106 women, 63 children, and 70 elderly people. Of these deaths, 487, including 76 young children, had horrific injuries and 56 were killed by methods classified as ‘severe cruelty.’ Civilians were shot at close range, scalped and burned alive. Some had their eyes gouged out and others were beheaded. One pregnant woman was even bayoneted in the abdomen. Those wounded inhabitants who escaped the gunfire were forced to trek through the mountains to safety – many perished in the cold. A further 1275 people were taken hostage.
Once all the Khojaly citizens had been slaughtered, imprisoned, or had fled the town, Armenian soldiers quickly took control of the region with the partial objective of obscuring the scale of the massacre. Azerbaijani helicopters attempted to pick up the bodies, but continually came under fire. Most of the dead were carried in vehicles, being transported by the truckload. However, the whereabouts of a further 150 victims remain unknown. The massacre at Khojaly by Armenia contravened international law and violated Geneva conventions and articles 2, 3, 5, 9, and 17 of the Declaration of Human Rights (adopted by the UN General Assembly on 10 December 1948).