32 years since Bashlibel massacre marked in Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan on Friday commemorated the 32nd anniversary of the Bashlibel massacre, in which Armenian forces killed dozens of civilians during the First Karabakh War.

On April 18, 1993, 18 residents of Bashlibel village in the Kalbajar district were killed and 14 taken hostage after Armenian troops attacked mountain caves where villagers had taken shelter. The group had fled earlier violence during the occupation of Kalbajar, which began in early April that year.

According to official sources, 73 people from the village were initially trapped. Nine were killed and five captured on April 2 while attempting to escape. The remaining 62 went into hiding in the surrounding mountains. Thirty survivors remained under siege for 113 days before escaping the area on foot under cover of darkness on July 17.

Kalbajar was returned to Azerbaijani control on November 25, 2020, following the 44-day war over Karabakh.

N.Tebrizli