2020 Barda missile attacks

The Barda missile attacks (Azerbaijani: Bərdənin bombalanması) was a series of three air attacks on the city of Barda, as well as the villages of Əyricə and Qarayusifli in the same district, in Azerbaijan during the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War. The attacks involved BM-30 Smerch missiles with cluster warheads, and resulted in 27 civilian deaths.

The first attack took place on 27 October, killing 5 civilians and wounding 13 more. The next day, on 28 October, several missiles struck Barda, killing 21 civilians, including a Red Crescent volunteer, and wounding 60 more. It was the deadliest attack on civilians and the worst civilian death toll during the war.^[1][2][3] On 7 November, the Armenian forces fired a rocket on the village of Əyricə, killing a 16-year-old boy.^[4]

Azerbaijan accused Armenia of the attacks and stated that cluster munitions had been used against civilians. Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International verified the use of cluster munition by Armenia, adding that the "firing of cluster munitions into civilian areas is cruel and reckless, and causes untold death, injury and misery."^[5][6] Armenia denied any responsibility, while the unrecognized Republic of Artsakh admitted responsibility for the attacks but stated that it had targeted military facilities.