Before the occupation, Kerkijahan was protected by self-defense units formed from local Azerbaijanis, the newly established police and a group of soldiers of the National Army.
When the Armenian army started offensive of Kerkijahan using heavy weapons, the self-defense units had to retreat because of the inequality of the forces. The civilian population managed to get out of Kerkijahan thanks to the self-defense units’ temporary resistance.
As a result of the occupation of Kerkijahan by the Armenian armed groups, 34 of 1,796 habitants of the village, including 3 women and 2 babies, were killed and more than 150 people were wounded. Two high schools, a kindergarten, a library, a club, a telephone exchange building, 10 shops, a clinic, 15 manufacturing plants and other objects of everyday life were destroyed in Kerkijahan.
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