Civilians flee Terter after Armenian forces target city

Rıza Özel/Fevzi Kızılkoyun - TERTER

Civilians are fleeing the Azeri city of Terter after the Armenian forces target the settlement with rockets as tensions between the two countries continue to escalate.

Azerbaijan has declared a state of war in some of its cities and regions and imposed curfews in some cities, including the capital Baku, after 9:00 p.m., following Armenia’s border violations and attacks in the occupied Nagorno-Karabakh region.

After the Azerbaijani military shelled Armenian positions around Terter, Armenian units on Sept. 30 fired rockets on the city, which is home to some 100,000 people.

One civilian was killed and six civilians were also injured in the attack, daily Hürriyet reported.

Following the attack, thousands of civilians have started to flee Terter to other regions, making the city look like a “ghost town,” with empty streets and squares once bustling with people.

“They [Armenian forces] hit our home, we had to leave our village,” Şule Huseyinova, a resident of the Ağdam village, told the daily, adding that she left the place with her children and 10 relatives.

Şule Huseyinova, along with Gülşen Hüseyinova and Hayale Memedova, from the same village, fled the city with a few belongings that they managed to grab and now are waiting out in the field in their cars for the clashes to end.

Back in Baku, the residents rush to their homes before the curfew starts, while a number of men and women line up in front of the military recruitment office to volunteer to fight in Karabakh.

Some families also showed up at the recruitment office to support their children who volunteered.

Those who are deemed fit to be recruited are being sent to the frontline with vehicles.