Azerbaijan discovers over 480 human remains in Karabakh

Emil Tagiyev, head of the Special Investigation Department of the Azerbaijani Military Prosecutor's Office, has said that so far over 480 human remains have been found in Karabakh.

"During the past period, the remains of more than 480 people were discovered in the villages of Edilli of Khojavand, Farrukh of Khojaly, Seyidahmadli of Fuzuli, Shusha Dashalti, as well as in Kabajar, Aghdam and other settlements," Tagiyev told Report.

According to the head of the department, about 300 forensic-medical and forensic-molecular-genetic examinations were carried out in order to establish the identities of the missing persons during the First Karabakh War (1988-1994).

The remains of at least 31 people have been discovered as a result of excavations conducted in Shusha since May 2023, Tagiyev added.

According to him, these remains presumably belong to Azerbaijanis who were taken captive and held here as hostages during the First Karabakh War: "Azerbaijanis held in prisons were brutally tortured, beaten, set upon by dogs, fed wounded and infirm people to pigs, and then buried here".

Taghiyev said that the process of discovering mass graves in Azerbaijan’s liberated territories continues.

As a result of the excavations carried out from August 1 to 15, human remains of supposedly 17 people were found on the territory of the Shusha prison. Currently, employees of the State Commission on Prisoners of War, Hostages and Missing Persons, are on the territory where the mass grave was discovered.

About 4,000 Azerbaijanis went missing as a result of the First Karabakh War. It is believed that the vast majority of them were systematically killed and buried in mass graves.

The policy of ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity carried out by Armenian armed forces against Azerbaijanis in the First Karabakh War is well known.

The Karabakh region bears the scars of these atrocities. Eyewitness testimony and research in Azerbaijani-controlled areas of the region have shown the presence of mass graves in the former Nagorno-Karabakh territory, proving such crimes.