Capture of Garadaghly

The Capture of Garadaghly (Azerbaijani: Qaradağlının işğalı) or Garadaghly Massacre (Azerbaijani: Qaradağlı qətliamı) occurred when Armenian troops captured Garadaghly, a village in Khojavend district of Azerbaijan, on 17 February 1992 during the Nagorno-Karabakh War. More than 20 civilians were killed and many taken prisoner.[1]

Capture of Garadaghly
Date17 February 1992
Location
Garadaghly, Khojavend Rayon, Nagorno-Karabakh
Result Armenian victory
Belligerents
 Nagorno-Karabakh
 Armenia		  Azerbaijan

Preceding events

In June 1991 an Armenian armed attack took place which resulted in the death of six civilians from Garadaghly.[2]

The assault

The assault began at 5 am on 17 February 1992. The battle continued for 11 hours and resulted in the capture of Garadaghly by Armenian troops.[3] Arabo and Aramo units and units of Monte Melkonian took part in the operation against the orders of Melkonian, who commanded "that no captives were to be harmed".[4][5] According to Azerbaijani sources 117 Azerbaijani civilians were taken prisoner and around 56 to 90 civilians were killed.[6][7] Survivors fled to Agdam through the mountains.[8]

The ITAR-TASS news agency reported, quoting the Azerbaijani Popular Front's information center, that "more than 20 people were killed and 15 wounded" when Armenian militants captured the village and forced the residents to flee to a nearby forest.[1]

According to Markar Melkonian, the fighters from Arabo and Aramo units gathered thirty-eight Azerbaijani captives, including several women and other noncombatants, in a ditch on the outskirts of the village. One of the captives in the ditch tossed a grenade, injuring one of the captors. The Arabo and Aramo fighters who had already wished to ""avenge" the death of another comrade the day before", "began stabbing and shooting their captives", until they all were dead. One of the Armenian fighters doused several wounded Azerbaijani soldiers with gasoline and burned them alive. In the words of Melkonian, the ditch became a "butcher's scrap heap". According to Melkonian, "a total of fifty-three Azeris were killed in and around Karadaghlu within two days, compared to three killed on the Armenian side, including a sixty-year-old villager" who was hit by a stray bullet.[9]

Names of the prisoners

The names of the prisoners according to the Azerbaijani news agency Musavat:

  • Veten Aliyev
  • Zakir Aliyev
  • Nasir Amrahov
  • Hafiz Akhundov
  • Fuzuli Veliyev
  • Abulfat Huseynov
  • Mikayil Dadashov
  • Firdovsi Kerimov
  • Malik Mustafayev[7]

Aftermath

According to Azerbaijani news agencies after the capture, the defense minister Tajeddin Mehdiyev was fired. Many letters had been sent by Azerbaijan to the United Nations, Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe and Red Cross condemning the killing of Azerbaijani civilians.[7]

See also

References
  1. "20 killed in attack on Azerbaijani village". Deseret News. February 17, 1992. Retrieved 1 February 2013.
  2. de Waal, Thomas (2003). Black Garden: Armenia and Azerbaijan through Peace and War. NYU Press. p. 115. ISBN 978-0-8147-1945-9.
  3. "Газ. "Бакинский рабочий", Т. Чалалзе. Сострадание. 1995". February 18, 1992. Missing or empty |url= (help)
  4. Melkonian, Markar (2005). My brother's road: an American's fateful journey to Armenia. I.B. Tauris. pp. 211–212. ISBN 978-1-85043-635-5.
  5. Rizvan Guseynov (August 17, 2010). "Ибад Гусейнов: "Монте Мелконян на коленях просил пощадить его жизнь"". 1news.az. Archived from the original on August 20, 2010. Retrieved December 14, 2010.
  6. "Letter dated 20 May 2005 from the Permanent Representative of Azerbaijan to the United Nations addressed to the Secretary-General" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 May 2009. Retrieved December 14, 2010.
  7. "QARADAĞLI QƏTLİAMINDAN 18 İL KEÇİR". Yeni Musavat. February 17, 2010. Archived from the original on May 21, 2010. Retrieved December 14, 2010.
  8. "NATO academic forum: Violence in NK area" (PDF). p. 10. Retrieved December 14, 2010.
  9. Melkonian, Markar (2005). My brother's road: an American's fateful journey to Armenia. I.B. Tauris. pp. 211–212. ISBN 978-1-85043-635-5.

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