International Organizations
Human Rights Watch confirms use of banned cluster missiles by Armenia against Azerbaijan's Barda city
Human Rights Watch has also verified the use of banned cluster missiles by Armenia in the current Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, following an attack on the city of Barda in Azerbaijan, said the statement released by the organization.
“Armenian forces either fired or supplied internationally banned cluster munitions and at least one other type of long-range rocket used in an attack on Barda city, 230 kilometers west of Azerbaijan’s capital, Baku on October 28, 2020. The attack reportedly killed at least 21 civilians and wounded at least another 70.
Human Rights Watch analyzed photos of cluster munition remnants taken by international and local journalists and residents at and near the attack scene. It identified two of the weapons as a Smerch cluster munition rocket and a Smerch parachute-retarded high-explosive fragmentation rocket,” the statement sad.
“There’s a reason these brutal weapons are banned by an international treaty, and using them in a city center shows flagrant disregard for civilian life and international law,” said Belkis Wille, senior crisis and conflict researcher at Human Rights Watch.