Azerbaijani security official: Armenia committed acts of ethnic cleansing and genocide during the conflict

Armenian armed formations carried out ethnic cleansing and genocide during the conflict, Lieutenant General Sharafat Hasanov, Deputy Chief of Azerbaijan's State Security Service (SSS), said during the presentation of the "Assessment Report on the Search for Missing Persons in the Republic of Azerbaijan" by the International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP).

Report quotes him as saying peaceful Azerbaijani civilians were subjected to mass killings, while captives were held in inhumane conditions, facing brutal torture and treatment that violated humanitarian principles.

Hasanov emphasized that since 1988, Azerbaijan has been drawn into an armed conflict due to Armenia's unfounded territorial claims and occupation, leading to a large-scale humanitarian crisis.

"As a result of military actions, more than 19,000 Azerbaijani citizens were killed or went missing, over 65,000 were injured, and more than 900 settlements were completely destroyed. The infrastructure and environment of the occupied territories suffered damage worth billions of dollars, with tens of thousands of hectares of land contaminated by landmines and unexploded ordnance," Hasanov stressed.