The statement reads that despite the existence of a ceasefire regime between Armenia and Azerbaijan, 9-year-old Fariz Badalov was shot while he played in the courtyard of his home, the Azerbaijani State Committee for Work with the Diaspora told Trend on Thursday.

Children, women and the elderly are not even murdered in wartime, but the “murder of Badalov by Armenians, who committed the Khojaly genocide and murdered children there, is no surprise.”

The TAS harshly criticized Armenia for the murder of the child, and urged the international community and international organizations to express their attitude about the incident. It also called on Turkey to officially criticize Armenia in connection with the incident.

The 9-year-old resident of the Orta Garvand village in the Agdam region was killed on March 8 as a result of a ceasefire violation by Armenian troops. Badalov was shot in the head while playing in his yard. He was taken to hospital, but doctors failed to save his life.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan since 1992, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and 7 surrounding districts.
Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group – Russia, France, and the U.S. – are currently holding the peace negotiations.

Armenia has not yet implemented the U.N. Security Council’s four resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding regions.