Resident of Khojaly: 'Armenians beat me, pulled out my nails with pliers, and broke my teeth'

"Armenians indiscriminately tortured children, women, and the elderly. First, they beat and knocked me down, then stepped on my hand and broke my fingers. Then they took out my nails with pliers and broke my teeth," Valeh Huseynov, who was in Armenian captivity for twenty-seven days during the Khojaly genocide, told Report.

He shared his memories of the Khojaly district, where he grew up. Talking about the mysterious nature of the district, Huseynov said: "I will never forget the nature and the beautiful days I spent there. The river flowed from both sides of Khojaly. It had natural springs, mountains, and beautiful gardens. There, people were engaged in agriculture and animal husbandry. Agricultural products such as potatoes, tomatoes, and cabbage, grown in Khojaly, were brought to Khankandi, Aghdam, Shusha, and even Lachin markets. Those products were always distinguished by their taste and quality."

Huseynov also spoke about the Khojaly tragedy that happened on the night of February 25-26, 1992: "Khojaly was under siege for exactly four years from 1988 to 1992. As villages like Jamilli, Kosalar, Karkijahan, Guschular, and Malibayli were burnt down, we felt Khojaly was next. No matter how much we informed the country's leadership about the danger and asked for help, they did not listen. Armenians, with the participation of the 366th motorized rifle regiment of the former Soviet army, attacked Khojaly on the night of February 25-26. They were armed with heavy military equipment and attacked unarmed civilians at that time. Armenians attacked Khojaly from every path. At that time, street fights began. The people of Khojaly formed small groups, armed themselves with shotguns and other light weapons, and fought heroically against the Armenian militants. Women also helped men. Imagine that we were fighting with these small weapons against tanks, BMPs and other armored vehicles, and mortars."

Huseynov emphasized that they had to leave Khojaly in an unequal battle. Therefore, they turned to the Katik forest and had to pass through the intersection of the Tartar and the Gargar rivers: "We, young people, had to carry women, children and the elderly from there. I was 23 years old and had been married for 4 months. With my wife Saadat, we reached the Katik forest in that snowy and frosty weather. The uphill and downhill roads in the forest were so hard to cross, and the snowfall made it even harder. Many people froze to death there, and Armenian bullets killed others. As the Armenians knew that we would pass through the Katik forest while fleeing, they kept this place under constant fire. We walked non-stop until morning. When we reached Askaran, Armenians met us with armored cars and opened fire on us. They shot everyone, including women, elderlies and children. The commander of Khojaly airport, Alif Hajiyev, was also shot there."

Talking about the moments when he was captured, the interviewee said that he experienced the most difficult moments of his life at that time: "We left to find out the firing points so that we could stop the Armenians in order to save the women and children. I sent my wife Saadat along with other women and children from Askaran. Shortly before we reached the village of Shelli in Aghdam that I was said that Saadat stayed there and could not come. I had to go back again to get her. Saadat was hiding in a ravine with 12 women and children. On the way back, none of them had the energy to walk. We were surrounded when we were about to reach the village of Garagaya. Saadat was killed by Armenians. I did not want to leave her and then I was captured right there."

Huseynov also touched on the torture he suffered in Armenian captivity. He shared his memories of the painful days he lived at that time. Recalling that he was in captivity for 27 days, he said that every moment of those days passed with unbearable torture: "Armenians indiscriminately tortured children, women, and the elderly. First, they beat and knocked me down, then stepped on my hand and broke my fingers. Then they took out my nails with pliers and broke my teeth. Later, when they beat me again, I fell on the stove. They forced me to fix the hot stove that fell to the ground with my broken hands. When they saw that I wanted to use the torn shirt to not burn my hand, they didn't let me and stuck my hand in the oven. My hands were so badly burned that I grabbed the cold iron on the wall to cool it down. My hands stuck to the iron. Seeing this, the Armenians pulled my legs to themselves, and the skin of my hands stuck to the ice-covered iron pipe. They beat me with a machine gun so badly that I vomited blood. Armenians told me that "dog dies, you don't". What kind of person are you?! I still feel those terrible pains today. The last torture was the liquid they splashed into my eyes. As a result, I have lost my vision in my left eye."

Huseynov also answered the questions about how he escaped from Armenian captivity: "One night they told me that tomorrow we will cut off your flesh and ears, feed them to yourself, take out your eyes, and cut off your nose. Now and then, a doctor came to check on us. They did this to create an image that they were supposedly humane. At that time, I wanted to end these sufferings myself by drinking a handful of the medicines brought for us. However, I vomited so much blood that I could not swallow the medicine. My hair had become gray because of fear until morning.

"It was noon, the door of the room where we were kept was opened. Vitaly Balasanyan and several Armenian soldiers entered. They showed me my picture, is that you? I said yes. They asked a few questions related to me and left. They returned in the evening, cleaned the blood from my face, and put me in a soldier's uniform. They took and pushed me into a car. Someone called from behind in the car, "Are you Valeh?" I understood that he is Azerbaijani from his speech. That person was Zahid Garayev, a comrade-in-arms of National Hero Allahverdi Bagirov. They exchanged me with 3 captive Armenians. Thus, I was freed from captivity, where I saw the torment of hell for 27 days."