Maraga Massacre The Maragha Massacre was the mass murder of ethnic Armenian civilians in the village Maragha by Azerbaijani troops , which had captured the village on April 10 , 1992 , in the course of the Nagorno - Karabakh War . The villagers , including women , children and elderly , were killed indiscriminately , their houses were pillaged and burnt ; the village was destroyed and was subsequently occupied by the Azerbaijani forces . Although the estimates of the actual number of murdered ranges from 50 to 100 , according to most of the sources more than 50 people were killed and a further fifty - three were taken hostage , 19 of whom were never returned . Background . The village of Maraga ( Leninavan ) was located in the Martakert region of Nagorno Karabakh , just across the border from the Azerbaijani town of Terter ( oil - rich Mir - Bashir region ) and was one of the region ' s largest villages . According to the census of 1989 the village had a population of 4660 , predominantly ethnic Armenians . By spring 1992 the conflict in Nagorno - Karabakh escalated . The village of Maraga , prior to the invastion by ground forces , had been under artillery fire as a result of which resulted in considerable damage in the village . Residents of the village tried to shield themselves from shrapnel by digging underground shelters . Some of the residents of the village had to leave their houses and temporarily settle in other regions of NKR . Attack on the village . On 10 April 1992 Maragha was attacked by the Azerbaijani forces . Early in the morning artillery fire started , followed by a ground assault from neighboring Mir - Bashir . By the afternoon , Azerbaijani armed forces entered the village with tanks , followed by infantry , reportedly followed by looters . By that time according to the data of Human Rights Watch the village had 500 residents . A preliminary investigation was carried out by Human Rights Watch ( HRW , Helsinki Watch ) and published in 1992 . Having spoken to the only eyewitness available to them at the time , an Armenian fighter who took part in the village ' s defense , the report outlined that Maraghar ' s defense detachments were unable to hold their positions when units of the Azerbaijani army attacked the village on April 10 : they were forced to retreat to a spot overlooking the village and to call for assistance . As reported by the Armenian fighters , the Azerbaijanis had about 20 armored vehicles , and the lack of adequate weaponry on the Armenian side made it impossible for them to repel the attack . The defending units notified the villagers of their retreat and most of the inhabitants left the village , while the civilians who remained , mainly consisting of the elderly and the disabled , hid in basements and underground shelters . The massacre . The Azerbaijani army captured Maragha the same day ( 10 April ) and committed a massacre of the civilian population of the village . The village was retaken by the Armenians the following day . Upon re - entering the village , Armenian fighters reported that they came across bodies of forty - three civilians most of whom were mutilated . According to eyewitness accounts people were decapitated , tortured ( such as being dragged tied to a tank or being burnt alive ) , bodies were mutilated , disected and burnt ; non - combatants , among them women and children , were captured and taken hostage . Vice - Speaker of the British Parliament ’ s House of Lords Caroline Cox , who personally visited the place , gave the following testimony , I , along with my team from Christian Solidarity Worldwide , arrived within hours to find homes still smoldering , decapitated corpses , charred human remains , and survivors in shock . This was truly like a contemporary Golgotha many times over . As reported by Amnesty International , Over 100 residents of the village were slain , while their bodies were profaned and disfigured . Forty - five residents of the village were taken hostage including 9 children and 29 women . Two weeks later the village was again attacked and the population was deported . Houses were pillaged and then most of them were burnt down . As the result of the attack most of the village was destroyed . The bodies were later buried in a mass grave near the village . Two weeks later the village was subjected to another attack - the population was forcibly deported , 13 civilians were taken hostages and the village was completely destroyed . Besides those killed about 37 people , among them 21 women and 6 children , had gunshot wounds . Those hostages which were later exchanged had suffered humiliation , torture and psychological traumas , as a result of which most of them did not live long after they were returned . Investigations . Human rights groups . Accounts differ on precisely how many people were killed in the attack . A 1993 Country Dossier Report by Amnesty International gave forty - five as the number of those killed . According to Gevorg Petrossian , Chairman of the Parliament of Nagorno - Karabakh Republic , 53 civilians were killed as a result of the attack , although the 1992 report by HRW expressed uncertainty as to whether those reported killed were civilians or combatants . It assumed , however , that the figure included the forty - three Armenians who were killed by the Azerbaijanis . In 1992 , HRW received a report that fifty Armenians had been taken hostage in the attack on Maraghar . Baroness Cox and Christian Solidarity Worldwide . Baroness Caroline Cox , an advocate of the Armenian cause in the Nagorno - Karabakh conflict , who led a delegation that observed the damage and interviewed eyewitnesses , stated that after Azerbaijani forces attacked Maragha , they decapitated about forty five villagers , burned and looted much of the town , and kidnap ped about one hundred women and children . A more detailed report of the findings of Cox and Christian Solidarity Worldwide was published in 1993 . Aftermath . The Azerbaijani officers directly involved in the massacre were never held responsible or tried for the crimes they committed in Maraga . At the same time the Azerbaijani side has not responded to the accusations of Maraga massacre . The events in Maraga were not covered by the international media and there is little awareness in the world about the events in this village , despite the severity of the actions . Cox explained that she hadn ' t brought journalists together with her to Maraga on those days because it was dangerous , but she made many photographs which are printed in her book " Ethnic Cleansing in Progress " . Cox also said in her interview that English newspaper Daily Telegraph had agreed to print her report on Maraga massacre but then they refused to do so . Maraga village is currently controlled by the Azerbaijani army . The former residents of the village now live in Russia , Armenia and other parts of Nagorno - Karabakh . Those living in Russia are unable to return to Karabakh because of the lack of funds to cover travel expenses . The residents of Maraga who stayed in Karabakh have rebuilt another village on the ruins of another village in Nagorno - Karabakh , not far from Maraga . This new village is now called Nor Maraga ( New Maraga ) . There has been a monument erected in New Maraga commemorating the victims of the massacre . Caroline Cox has stressed this in her interview : The suffering of your people [ should ] somehow [ be ] recognized and they will therefore receive justice and the right to live in peace and freedom in their land … [ I ] t is impossible for the Armenians who live in Artsakh ( Nagorno - Karabakh ) ever again to accept Azeri sovereignty .