Khojaly genocide survivor testifies at Baku Military Court “We hid in the forest for two days under fire”

A woman displaced during the 1992 Khojaly genocide has delivered emotional testimony during an ongoing trial at the Baku Military Court, highlighting the brutality faced by Azerbaijani civilians during Armenia’s military aggression.

On July 21, Shahla Talibova, a victim and witness, described how her family was deported from their ancestral home in Armenia in 1988 and later resettled in the Shusha district. Due to her husband’s employment, they eventually moved to Khojaly.

Talibova recalled that during the early days of anti-Azerbaijani violence, a stone was thrown at a bus, and a glass shard struck her 10-day-old baby in the eye, Caliber.Az reports via local media.

Describing the horrors of the night of February 25–26, 1992, she said: “We escaped into the forest under fire and stayed hidden for two days before reaching Aghdam.” She also revealed that her in-laws were held hostage for seven days, while several other relatives were either captured or went missing during the genocide.

“My children suffered deep trauma. After we returned to Baku, my daughter would mistake stars in the night sky for rockets and beg to leave, saying, ‘Mom, they’re firing rockets, let’s go,’” Talibova said.

The trial, ongoing in Baku, targets citizens of the Republic of Armenia accused of war crimes, crimes against peace and humanity, genocide, terrorism, and the unlawful seizure and retention of power. The proceedings aim to bring accountability for the atrocities committed during Armenia’s military aggression against Azerbaijan.

The Khojaly genocide occurred on the night of February 25–26, 1992, during the First Karabakh War, when Armenian armed forces, with the support of the Russian 366th Motor Rifle Regiment, launched an assault on the Azerbaijani town of Khojaly in the Nagorno-Karabakh region. In a matter of hours, the town was overrun, and fleeing civilians—mostly women, children, and the elderly—were ambushed and brutally killed while attempting to escape through snowy mountain paths toward Aghdam.

According to official Azerbaijani sources, 613 civilians were killed, including 106 women, 63 children, and 70 elderly people. Hundreds were wounded, and over 1,200 residents were taken hostage, with many still missing to this day. The massacre is widely recognised in Azerbaijan as one of the most horrific war crimes committed during the conflict and is commemorated annually as a symbol of national tragedy and resilience.

By Vugar Khalilov