Azerbaijan collects over 11,200 bioprobes countrywide in effort to identify missing persons

Azerbaijan has made substantial strides in the search for missing persons, with more than 11,200 bioprobes collected from the families of the missing persons across 63 districts.

This important update was shared by Rufat Aliyev, the head of the Main Military Medical Department of Azerbaijan's State Security Service, during a panel discussion titled “Progress and Challenges in the Search and Forensic Identification of Missing Persons' Remains,” Caliber.Az reports, citing local media.

“Based on these materials, a DNA database has been formed. Currently, about 4,000 of our compatriots are officially registered as missing persons. Mass graves were discovered during the construction works after the Patriotic War of 2020 and anti-terrorist measures carried out under the leadership of Supreme Commander-in-Chief Ilham Aliyev and as a result of excavation works carried out by the State Commission [on Prisoners of War, Hostages and Missing Persons]," Aliyev said. 

Aliyev emphasized the importance of international best practices in identifying missing persons: “Despite all the challenges, significant progress has been made in the identification of missing persons. The current level of ongoing cooperation between the State Commission, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), and relevant institutions in the direction of identifying missing persons is highly valued.”

Post-war investigations in the liberated regions have uncovered numerous mass and individual graves of Azerbaijanis in Khojaly, Khojavand, Kalbajar, Aghdam, and Fuzuli, as well as around the city of Shusha.

Since 2020, at least 500 human remains have been found in the territory of Shusha prison and Dashalti village, Sarijali village of Aghdam district, Edilli village of Khojavend district, Farrukh village of Khojaly district, Yukhari Seyidahmadli village of Fuzuli district and Bashlibel village of Kalbajar district.

Historians and analysts in Baku believe that additional mass graves of Azerbaijanis, killed by Armenian forces, may still be uncovered in various locations within the liberated territories.

The recent discoveries of numerous mass graves of Azerbaijani victims in areas liberated from Armenian occupation in 2020 serve as compelling evidence of the genocide and military crimes perpetrated by Armenian forces during the First Karabakh War.

By Khagan Isayev