A massacre was committed by Armenian terrorists in the village of Meshali, Azerbaijan’s Khojaly district, on 23 December 1991. Armenian militants, using machine guns and other weapons, surrounded and attacked the village, killing 25 innocent Azerbaijanis.

In an interview with Public Television, Sabir Gasimov, who survived the massacre, recalled the grave crimes committed in the village of Meshali, News.Az reports.

According to the survivor,  there were a self-defense battalion and 11-12 soldiers of the National Army in the village when Armenian militants launched an attack.

He revealed that the Armenian terrorists killed women, children, and the elderly, including a seventh-grade student named Vidadi Allahverdiyev and an 80-year-old woman named Suraya. Some residents were also killed on the road to Shusha while attempting to escape.

Gasimov noted that 14 villagers were severely wounded, and a total of 365 people suffered from the Armenian attacks, forcing them to flee barefoot toward the mountains.

The survivor emphasized that the Armenian terrorists used mortars against unarmed civilians.

“They gave commands in three languages. Their voices could be heard saying "The first squadron forward, the second squadron forward". Massacres started from the middle of the besieged village. Humbatov Bahlul was martyred at the entrance of the village. Then four people from Guliyev Ganimat's family - Ganimat himself, his wife and his sons Matlab and Ismayil were martyred. From Novruzov Novruz's family, Novruz himself, his wife Adila, daughters Rubaba and Rahila, and son Allahverdi were martyred by Armenian militants,” Gasimov said.

The survivor continued: “When the house owned by Novruz was besieged, the villages saw the involvement of Badara villagers Vagif Cherkezovich Khachatryan, Armais and Ernes, who were saying that “Novruz, we know you are a hunter, a shooter, we will not leave your family alive”.”

Gasimov also commented on the detention of Vagif Khachatryan, an internationally wanted fugitive of the Meshali massacre, by the military personnel of the Azerbaijani State Border Service.

“We hope that Vagif Khachatryan, who was detained at the Lachin border crossing point, and his accomplices will stand trial,” the massacre survivor concluded.

Vagif Khachatryan, an internationally wanted fugitive of the Meshali massacre of December 22, 1991, was detained by the military personnel of the State Border Service at the Lachin border crossing point of the Azerbaijan-Armenia state border while trying to go to the Republic of Armenia for treatment through the mediation of the International Committee of the Red Cross.

The investigation established that Vagif Cherkezovich Khachatryan, born in 1955, a citizen of the Republic of Azerbaijan, born in Badara village of Askaran district and worked as a driver in Khankendi city automobile transport company, residing in Meshali village, together with other people of Armenian nationality, used various weapons, including firearms and infantry fighting vehicles, to completely destroy the village.

Using various weapons, including firearms and infantry fighting vehicles, they raided the village and killed 25 people of Azerbaijani nationality, injured 14 people, and contrary to national and international law norms expelled 358 Azerbaijanis from their domicile.

In addition, Vagif Cherkezovich Khachatryan continued his criminal actions together with his accomplices, destroying and damaging property belonging to the state and villagers, causing a total of 5 million 496 thousand 900 manats of material damage.

Since sufficient reasonable suspicions arose regarding the criminal case, it was decided to involve Vagif Cherkezovich Khachatryan as an accused person under articles 103 (massacre) and 107 (deportation or forced movement of the population) of the Criminal Code of Azerbaijan. However, due to the fact that his whereabouts were unknown to the investigation, on November 12, 2013, an international arrest warrant was applied by the court's decision.

News.Az