Death toll of Barda shelling goes up

The number of casualties of the shelling of the city of Barda has reached 21 people, the Azerbaijani General Prosecutor's Office (GPO) has stated.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that 20 civilians were killed and up to 60 others were wounded by the strike of cluster munitions from the "Smerch" (Whirlwind) installations on the city of Barda.

The death toll has risen to 21, the count of those wounded – up to 70, the Azerbaijani GPO's press service has informed.

About 70 wounded patients were taken to the Barda District Hospital, said Zaur Aliev, a surgeon. "We've taken people of different ages; there are children, the elderly, and many women," Mr Aliev told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

Seimur Mamedov, an eyewitness to the shelling of Barda, said that townspeople helped to bring victims to the hospital. "It was lunchtime. I entered a café aiming to have a snack. Suddenly, one after another shells began exploding some 200 meters away from us. We ran in that direction and saw burning cars, scattered dead bodies and body parts. There were many wounded persons and blood. With the help of young people who gathered in the venue, we began to quickly evacuate those wounded. People were transporting them in their cars," Mr Mamedov has explained.

According to his story, the central part of Barda, where there is heavy traffic of vehicles and pedestrians, came under fire. "Probably, dozens of houses, trade facilities and cafés were damaged," the man has concluded.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on October 28, 2020 at 08:28 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.