Suffering a bitter defeat on the battlefields of the 44-day-long Patriotic War ever since it started on 27 September, Armenians resorted to provocations.

To make up for their losses, the military-political leadership of Armenia pounded our cities and villages, located away from the frontline, with heavy artillery and rocket strikes.

Sitting close to the frontline, Beylagan District was one of the places that was heavily stricken by Armenian artillery and missiles.

On 3 October 2020, the occupying country's military forces launched a heavy shelling of civilians' houses in Beylagan at around 7 PM; as a result, a private residence collapsed, burying Zulfiyya Iskandar Ismayilova (b. 1976) and her sister Arzu Iskandar Asadova (b. 1998) under the rubble. At the same time, shells bursting across the city wounded Etibar Tavakkyul Balakishiyev (b. 1982) and Sevda Yashar Bashirova (b. 1969), who were admitted to hospital. The shelling also dealt damage to numerous residential houses.

The Prosecutor's Office of Beylagan District has therefore initiated a criminal proceeding under articles 100.2 (Conducting of aggressive war), 120.2.1 (Deliberate murder conducted by organized group), 120.2.4 (Deliberate murder committed with special cruelty or in publicly dangerous way), 120.2.7, 120.2.12 (Deliberate murder committed on motive of national, racial, religious hatred or enmity), 186.3 (Deliberate destruction or damage of another's property which caused significant damage to a victim) of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Azerbaijan.

The enemy kept shelling Beylagan on the subsequent days too; luckily, there were no casualties, but facilities and residential structures across the district sustained heavy damage. On the overall, the continuous shelling of the city of Beylagan during the Patriotic War destroyed 9 houses and damaged over 50 structures.

Using heavy artillery and ballistic missiles against Ganja, Barda, Yevlakh, Beylagan, Agdam, Terter, Qabala, Goranboy, Aghjabadi, Khizi and other localities and districts, Armenian armed forces would grossly violate the norms and principles of international law, the Geneva Convention of 1949 and Additional Protocols thereto, as well as judgements and resolutions of UN Security Council. The Armenian military transgressions killed a total of 94 non-combatants, 12 children and 27 women among them; 414 civilians were wounded; 12 292 residential and non-residential facilities were damaged, as well as 288 vehicles and 1018 farms.

Apart from civilian casualties, Armenian bombardments also dealt damage to residential houses, industrial facilities, schools and a hospital, prompting a massive evacuation.

Some influential international organizations denounced Armenian military forces for violation of laws of war and rocket and artillery strikes on towns and villages that had resulted in civilian casualties.

The General's Prosecutor Office of the Republic of Azerbaijan stated that it would do its best to exposure Armenia as an occupying and aggressor country on a global scale, and appeal, pursuant to local and international law, to international authorities so that the culprit is brought to accountability and suffer the full penalty of sanctions.

We firmly believe that justice will soon triumph, and Armenian butchers will be brought to fair punishment for barbarous slaughter of peaceful people in Ganja and other towns and regions.