Details emerge of massacre committed by Vagif Khachatryan - EYEWITNESS REPORTS

Anyone involved in perpetrating the genocide against Azerbaijanis in Khojaly, Meshali and other places will be brought to justice, Ilham Kazimov, a representative of the executive committee of the Meshali village of the Khojaly district, said in an interview with Report's Western Bureau.

He noted that during the First Karabakh War, Armenians repeatedly attacked his village: “The villagers adequately repelled the enemy's attacks each time, but we could not prevent the last attack. Because there were scores of enemies and they used heavy weapons. I remember that on December 23, 1991, when the Armenian regiment attacked Meshali, fire seemed to pour from the sky. At that time, 81 families of 360 people lived in Meshali. On the morning of December 23 of the same year, the Armenian regiment attacked the village of Meshali. The enemy surrounded the village and only in one direction did they fail to take positions. Residents were shot while trying to get out through this direction. Most of the villagers didn't want to leave. Armenian bandits shot them right in their homes. Although with difficulties, the survivors were able to get out of the village at 3 am.”

The representative of the executive power emphasized that despite the resistance, they could not prevent the enemy's attack: “We had 10 people from the National Army and 5 from the police. The weapons were in limited supply. And they [the enemy - ed.] were armed to the teeth. They even had a tank. As the road was closed, the tank could not enter Meshali. Before that, we had prevented many attacks. But the last time the Armenian bandits literally went berserk. In that battle we had 25 people killed and 14 wounded. 20 martyrs were the residents of Meshali. One was a policeman from Aghdam, and three were soldiers of the National Army. A man named Tahir, who came from Yevlakh to help our village, was also martyred. Since we did not have weapons, help came from Khojaly, Kosaly and other places. We entered the village again. There we learned the number of our martyrs. My father, my aunt's family and our other relatives became martyrs."

Kazimov noted that 100 families of 430 people - the residents of the Meshali village of Khojaly district - have been living in the same-name village in the Goranboy district for 14 years: “I thank President Ilham Aliyev for the attention and care he has shown to us. Here all conditions are created for us.

We recently heard the news about the arrest of one of the suspects in the crime - Vagif Khachaturyan. I cannot express in words the joy we felt at that moment. Everyone congratulated each other. Thank you to our state, thank you to our Supreme Commander, thank you to our army. Today we are avenged. We are confident that everyone who committed genocide against Azerbaijanis in Khojaly, Meshali and other places will definitely be brought to account."