On the night of February 26, 1992, the most terrible massacre of the first Karabakh war occurred. The Khojaly tragedy, as it is called, has claimed the lives of hundreds of innocent Azerbaijani people. The Armenian armed forces, who launched an assault on Azerbaijani city of Khojaly, didn't show any mercy to women, elderly, or children.
Many journalists and photographers both from Azerbaijan and all over the world have depicted the horrific images of this genocide - the New York Times, TIME magazine, The Independent, and many others have covered this horrific story. In particular, the footage shot by famous Azerbaijani journalist Chingiz Mustafayev, was to become one of the most memorable ones, related to Khojaly massacre.
Even though the so-called "corridor" has been created for the residents of Khojaly to leave the city, those people have been attacked on the way. As a result of the massacre, 613 civilians were killed, including 106 women, 63 children and 70 elderly people, 1,000 people were wounded, as a result of brutal torture, and 1,275 were captured. Many of the residents of the city are still missing, their fate remains unknown.
After 8 Azerbaijani families have been massacred, 25 Azerbaijani children were left without both parents, 130 children lost one of their parents, and 76 children sustained various injuries.
The sad reality is that when armed conflicts happen, children, as the most vulnerable members of society, suffer the most from the consequences of military actions.
A documentary called "They will never grow up", dedicated to the children of Khojaly, created with the assistance of the Council of State Support to NGOs under the President of Azerbaijan and the Recognition of Armenian Aggression Public Union, has told the stories of those who was able to survive this massacre.
What happened in Khojaly 31 years ago during the first Karabakh war, grossly contradict the UN Declaration on the Protection of Women and Children in Emergency Situations and during Armed Conflicts. This is just one part of the ethnic cleansing the Armenian armed forces have been carrying out against Azerbaijani people. Those bloody chapters of the history will be remembered forever.