Azerbaijan relocates another group of former IDPs to Khojaly’s Ballija village PHOTO

A new group of former internally displaced persons (IDPs), consisting of families previously accommodated in hostels, sanatoriums, and administrative buildings across various locations, arrived in Ballija village, Azerbaijan’s Khojaly district.

A total of 98 former IDPs, including 24 families, have now been reunited with their homeland in Ballija village, Caliber.Az reports citing local media.

The relocation is part of a broader effort to resettle former IDPs in the territories liberated from occupation. By the end of 2024, over 10.2 thousand displaced persons (comprising 2,615 families) were provided with permanent homes in these newly liberated areas.

Ballija village has been under Armenian occupation since 1992. It was liberated during the one-day local anti-terrorist operation conducted on September 19-20, 2023 by the Azerbaijani Armed Forces to neutralise illegal Armenian armed formations and their military infrastructure in the Karabakh region.

The resettlement comes after a prolonged period of hardship for Khojaly, which was occupied on the night of February 25-26, 1992, during a tumultuous period in the region's history. The occupation was marked by the tragic events of the Khojaly genocide, where Armenian forces committed atrocities against Azerbaijani civilians. During the attack on Khojaly, the Armenian armed forces killed 613 ethnic Azerbaijanis, including 106 women, 63 children, and 70 elderly people.

By Vafa Guliyeva