It has been proven that a significant part of missing Azerbaijani servicemen died not on the battlefields but were tortured to death in prisoner-of-war camps, Ali Naghiyev, Head of the State Security Service of Azerbaijan and Chairman of State Commission of Azerbaijan on Prisoners of War, Hostages and Missing Citizens, said on Monday.

He made the remarks while speaking at an international conference on the theme “Increasing national and global efforts to clarify the fate of missing persons” held in Baku, News.Az reports.

Naghiyev recalled that as a result of Armenia’s military aggression, Azerbaijan suffered significant human losses and experienced terrible deaths accompanied by the complete destruction of hundreds of our towns and villages.

He noted that 3,890 people were registered with the State Commission as missing in action in the first Karabakh war.

“Among them, about 3,171 people are military, and 719 are civilians. Among civilians, 71 are minors, 267 are women, and 326 are elderly. Also, six servicemen were missing in the Second Karabakh War. The facts obtained show that a significant part of our missing servicemen were killed not on the battlefields but in prisoner-of-war camps as a result of terrible torture,” Naghiyev added.

News.Az