Six years have passed since Armenian armed forces carried out another missile attack on Azerbaijan's city of Barda during the Second Garabagh War.
Report recalls that on October 28, 2020, Armenian forces fired Smerch rockets at densely populated residential areas, civilian and commercial facilities, including an area containing private homes and apartment buildings.
The strikes, carried out using cluster munitions described in the report as prohibited under international law, killed 20 civilians and one employee of the Ministry of Emergency Situations and injured nearly 70 people.
Several civilian facilities were destroyed, vehicles were rendered unusable, and residents suffered extensive property damage.
Azerbaijan's Prosecutor General's Office opened a criminal case under Articles 120.2.1 (premeditated murder committed by a criminal association or organization), 120.2.4 (premeditated murder committed with particular cruelty or by a method endangering the public), 120.2.12 (premeditated murder motivated by national, racial or religious hatred or hostility), 100.2 (waging a war of aggression) and other articles of the Criminal Code. The preliminary investigation was assigned to the office's Investigation Department.
Barda district and its city center came under missile and heavy artillery attacks by Armenian armed forces three times during the Second Garabagh War-on October 5, 27 and 28. The attacks killed 29 people, injured 112 and caused extensive damage to civilian infrastructure and vehicles in the district.
In total, Armenian military attacks during the Second Garabagh War killed 93 civilians, including 12 children and 27 women, and injured 454 others. Damage was also recorded to 12,292 residential and nonresidential properties, 288 vehicles and 1,018 farms.