President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyevhas attended a ceremony to commemorate the Khojaly tragedy victims on Feb. 26.
 
The guard of honor lined up beside the memorial, APA reported.
 
President Ilham Aliyev placed a wreath at the memorial.
 
First Vice-President Mehriban Aliyeva, Prime Minister Artur Rasizade, Speaker of the Milli Majlis Ogtay Asadov, Head of the Presidential Administration Ramiz Mehdiyev laid flowers at the memorial.
 
State and government officials, members of the Milli Majlis (parliament), ministers, heads of committees and companies, representatives of the diplomatic corps, heads of religious confessions as well as Khojaly genocide survivors also placed flowers at the memorial.
 
On February 25-26, 1992, Armenia’s armed forces, together with the 366th infantry regiment of Soviet troops, stationed in Khankendi, committed an act of genocide against the population of the Azerbaijani town of Khojaly.
 
As many as 613 people, including 63 children, 106 women and 70 old people were killed as a result of the massacre. A total of 1,000 civilians became disabled in the onslaught. Eight families were completely annihilated, 130 children lost one parent, while 25 lost both parents. Some 1,275 innocent residents were taken hostage, while the fate of 150 people (68 women, 26 children) still remains unknown.

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