Azerbaijan marks five-year anniversary of Armenian missile attack on Ganja

Today marks five years since the first missile attack launched by the Armenian armed forces on the city of Ganja during the Second Karabakh War.

As Caliber.Az recalls, on the morning of October 4, 2020, at approximately 10:00 a.m., private residential houses and a two-story building in Ganja — Azerbaijan’s second-largest city — were hit by rocket fire originating from Armenian territory.

This marked the first instance during the conflict in which Armenian forces targeted a location far beyond the front lines, directly striking a civilian area with no immediate military presence.

The initial attack resulted in the death of one civilian, Aliyev Tunar Goshgar oglu, and left 32 others wounded. Significant damage was inflicted on residential homes, civil infrastructure, and historical buildings within the city.

It is important to note that Ganja was subjected to repeated attacks throughout the 2020 Patriotic War. In total, Armenian armed forces launched five separate artillery and missile strikes on the city on October 4, 5, 8, 11, and 17.

Over the course of these attacks, 26 civilians were killed, and 175 were injured.

Widespread destruction was caused to civilian infrastructure and private vehicles.

These strikes on Ganja were widely condemned for targeting civilian areas and have since become a painful reminder of the human cost of the conflict.

By Tamilla Hasanova