On October 28, a maternity hospital in Stepanakert city, the capital of the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh, was bombed.
Shushan Stepanyan, Press Secretary of the Ministry of Defense of Armenia, said the hospital was targeted by the Azerbaijani Armed Forces, which have been leading a large attack on Nagorno-Karabakh for more than a month now. The Press Secretary didn’t provide any addition information on the incident.
Meanwhile, reporters of the Abkhazian Network News Agency, who witnessed the attack, said a warplane dropped four bombs with parachutes at the hospital.
ANNA reporter says he saw 4 bombs being parachuted down. That he’s sure this was an airstrike. Reports say they hit near the Maternity hospital and a school. He’s on his way to the locations. pic.twitter.com/jG0ONmd5Ns
— Razm.info (@razminfo) October 28, 2020
Photos from the strike scene showed heavy destruction as well as the remains of what appears to be a heavy rocket or missile. No human losses have been reported by Armenian sources, so far.
Aftermath of the Stepnakert hospital bombing/shelling posted by @KarabakhRecords pic.twitter.com/ZY1vxARRD4
— Razm.info (@razminfo) October 28, 2020
Artsakh authorities said that they are looking into reports indicating that Turkish F-16 fighter jets carried out the attack on Stepanakert maternity hospital
In an official statement, the Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan rejected the Armenian accusations, describing them as “deliberate misinformation.”
“With this information, the enemy is trying to divert the attention from the war crimes committed in the city of Barda,” the statement reads.
Barda was reportedly shelled by Armenian forces with BM-30 Smerch cluster rockets a few hours before the attack on Stepanakert maternity hospital. Azerbaijani Presidential Aide, Hikmet Hajiyev, claimed that 20 civilians were killed and more than 60 others were injured in the attack.
In Barda number of wounded reaching 20. Number of wounded reached 60. Armenia used cluster munitions to inflict excessive casualties among civilians. It is policy of state terror by Armenia. Delibarately city center of Barda was targeted. pic.twitter.com/ZJzk3bBUkZ
— Hikmet Hajiyev (@HikmetHajiyev) October 28, 2020
The bombing of Stepanakert maternity hospital was not the first attack on Armenian health facilities by Azerbaijan. On October 14, Azerbaijani warplanes bombed a military hospital in the Armenian-held town of Martakert.
The Armenian MoD will likely share more details about the attack on Stepanakert maternity hospital in the upcoming few hours and days.
