TODAY.AZ / Politics

State Commission reveals number of Azerbaijanis gone missing in Karabakh War

27 December 2016 [12:43] - TODAY.AZ

By Rashid Shirinov

Azerbaijan's State Commission on Prisoners of War, Hostages and Missing People has revealed the latest data on Azerbaijanis, who went missing during the Karabakh War.

As of late December 2016, a total of 3,866 people are considered as missing persons. The data showed that majority of the missing persons – 3,123 people, are military personnel, while 743 people are civilians.

Sixty two of the missing civilians are children (20 girls and 42 boys), 261 are women and 301 elderly people (including 152 women).

The bloody war, which flared up in the late 1980s due to Armenia's territorial claims against Azerbaijan led to occupation of 20 percent of Azerbaijan's territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding regions by Armenian armed forces.

In a cruel war more than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed and over 1 million were displaced as a result of the large-scale hostilities.

The Commission also disclosed information on the persons, who were taken captive – the total number of captives is 873. Out of the total number, 591 persons are military personnel and 282 people are civilians. The majority of those captured during the hostilities are children, elderly people and women.

Armenia repeatedly refused to submit information regarding the fate of thousands of Azerbaijanis, who gone missing or taken hostage.

The number of people, who were eventually released from the Armenian captivity is 1,437, including 351 of military personnel and 1,086 civilians.

The number of missed people registered by International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is 3,768 from the Azerbaijani and 780 from the Armenian side.

Azerbaijan has repeatedly declared its readiness to begin negotiations with Armenia to free the captives and resolve the long-standing Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

However, the Armenian side keeps ignoring all attempts of Azerbaijan and international organizations, thereby disrespecting the international law and hindering the settlement of the conflict.

URL: http://www.today.az/news/politics/157264.html

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