29 years pass since Garakand helicopter tragedy

Twenty-nine years have passed since the Armenian terrorist shot down helicopter MI-8 near Garakand village of Khojavand region on November 20, 1991.

Report informs that 22 people were killed as a result.

Parliamentarian, State Secretary Tofig Ismayilov, Deputy Prime Minister Zulfu Hajiyev, parliamentarian Mahammad Asadov, Prosecutor General Ismat Gayibov, parliamentarians Vagif Jafarov and Vali Mammadov, Department Chief of the President's Office Osman Mirzeyev, First Deputy Minister of Melioration and Water Supply Gurban Namazaliyev, Assistant to State Secretary R. Mammadov, employees of Azerbaijan State TV and Radio Ali Mustafayev, Arif Huseynzade and Fakhraddin Shakhbazov, observers from Russian Federation Major-General M. Lukashov and Lieutenant Colonel V.Kocharov, First Deputy Minister of International Affairs of Kazakhstan S. Serikov, and three crew members were killed in the helicopter crash in Garakand village, Khojavand.

Initially, officials suggested that the helicopter might have crashed into a rock in the fog, but a few days later, they confirmed that it had been shot down. By committing this terrorist attack, the Armenian separatists once again proved their terrorist nature.

Although 29 years have passed, some dark moments of this tragedy are still unclear.

Concerning this fact, the Prosecutor's Office of the military post of Azerbaijan instituted a criminal proceeding, and an investigation was entrusted to the republican prosecutor's office. The investigation into the criminal case is currently not carried out since the territory is held under occupation by the Armenian armed forces.