Azernews.Az

The House of Representatives of the State of Minnesota has adopted a resolution recognizing February 26, 2016 as the 24th anniversary of the Khojaly Massacre, Azertac state news agency reports.

The resolution says that on February 25 and 26 1992 the Armenian armed forces supported and accompanied by armored vehicles of the Soviet 366th motorized riffle regiment attacked and occupied the besieged town of Khojaly as part of the armed aggression and ethnic cleansing that had been taking place in the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan since 1988.

‘When the residents of the town attempted to flew the area they were ambushed and fired on, which resulted in the largest civilian massacre and war crime in all of Europe at the time,” it reads.

The resolution says that as the result of the genocidal act of the approximately 6,000 inhabitants of the town 613 civilians were killed (including 106 women, 83 children and 70 elderly) 150 “missing”, 487 were wounded including 76 children, and 1270 civilians were taken hostage.

“This tragic event, which was later called by experts and became known as “Azerbaijani Srebrenica” is a sobering reminder of the carnage terrible that can be inflicted in wartime and the enduring need for greater understanding communication and tolerance among people the world over,” the resolution says.

Khojaly, the second largest town in the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan, came under intense fire from the towns of Khankendi and Askeran already occupied by the Armenian armed forces in 1992.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.

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