State Committee: Armenians killed 189 children during Nagorno-Karabakh conflict

By Azernews

By Rashid Shirinov

Despite the announcement of the ceasefire in 1994, unfortunately, Azerbaijan continued to record the facts of killing of Azerbaijani children by Armenians, Hijran Huseynova, chairman of Azerbaijan’s State Committee for Family, Women and Children Affairs, said on November 24.

She stressed that since that period until now, 34 children became victims of the Armenian terror, 14 of whom died and 20 were wounded.  

However, many more Azerbaijani children were killed by Armenians during the war preceding the ceasefire. Huseynova noted that 175 children were killed, and hundreds were wounded during this military conflict.

“During the conflict, Azerbaijan was able to release 214 children from captivity and hostages, 66 children went missing, and 29 children are still being kept as hostages,” she said.

The chairman further noted that protection of children’s rights has always been a priority for Azerbaijan, even in the most difficult years of restoration of its independence. One of the first international documents, which Azerbaijan joined, was the Convention on the Rights of the Child, she added.

“Using the opportunities provided by this document, the Azerbaijani government was able to inform the international community about the occupation of Azerbaijani territories by Armenia and about 300,000 children, who became refugees and internally displaced persons,” Huseynova noted.

The last Azerbaijani child that fell victim to Armenia's aggression on the frontline was a two-year old girl named Zahra. In July this year, she and her grandmother were killed in Alkhanli village of Fizuli region by Armenian armed forces. In March 2011, nine-year-old Fariz Badalov was shot in the head by an Armenian sniper while playing in the courtyard in Aghdam region. In July of the same year, 13-year-old Azerbaijani girl Aygun Shahmaliyeva fell victim to Armenia’s inhumane and immoral policy in the Alibayli village. She tragically died as a result of the explosion of a toy with an explosive device, which the Armenian side deliberately dropped into the river flowing to the village.

Today, all Azerbaijani refugees and internally displaced persons, and first and foremost children wish the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict to end and peace to come in the region. However, the aggressive policy Armenia has been pursuing for almost three decades still makes it impossible to realize their dream.