Azerbaijan on Sunday (11 October) marked the sixth anniversary of the deadly terror attack on Ganja, the country's second-largest city, where an Armenian ballistic missile struck a residential neighbourhood during the Second Garabagh War, killing ten civilians.
The attack took place at around 2 am on 11 October 2020, just hours after a humanitarian ceasefire between Azerbaijan and Armenia had come into effect. According to Azerbaijani authorities, nine people, including four women, were killed immediately, while 35 others were injured. One of those wounded later died in hospital. More than ten apartment buildings and more than 100 other facilities were damaged.
Ganja came under missile and artillery attacks on five occasions during the 44-day conflict in October 2020. According to Azerbaijani authorities, the attacks killed 26 people and injured 175 others, causing extensive destruction to residential buildings, civilian infrastructure and vehicles. Across Azerbaijan, 93 civilians, including 12 children and 27 women, were killed during the conflict, while another 454 were injured. More than 12,000 residential and non-residential buildings were damaged.
Human Rights Watch also documented Armenian missile and rocket strikes on residential neighbourhoods in Ganja, concluding that the use of inaccurate explosive weapons in populated areas violated international humanitarian law.
The anniversary comes as Azerbaijan and Armenia continue efforts to formalise a peace agreement after decades of conflict.
In August 2025, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan met at the White House, where the two countries' foreign ministers initialled a peace agreement under a U.S.-brokered framework.
The leaders also signed a joint declaration outlining steps towards normalisation, including the restoration of regional transport connections.
A central component is the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity (TRIPP), a proposed transport corridor connecting mainland Azerbaijan with its Nakhchivan exclave through Armenian territory. The initiative is intended to facilitate regional trade and connectivity, marking a shift from decades of closed borders and military confrontation towards economic cooperation.
However, the peace treaty has not yet been formally signed and ratified. Azerbaijan has maintained that Armenia must amend constitutional provisions that Baku considers to contain territorial claims against Azerbaijan before the agreement can be concluded. Pashinyan has reiterated his government's commitment to signing the treaty, describing peace between the two countries as an established reality.
Despite diplomatic progress, several issues stemming from the conflict remain unresolved, particularly the fate of people who went missing during the fighting. Thousands of Azerbaijanis remain unaccounted for following the First Garabagh War in the 1990s and subsequent hostilities.
On 8 October, Aliyev and Pashinyan discussed strengthening efforts to locate missing persons, including through further exchanges of information between the two countries.
The reopening of transport routes has also become a priority, with Armenia recently announcing plans to discuss railway connections towards Azerbaijan's Nakhchivan and Türkiye's Kars with Russian officials. These developments reflect ongoing efforts to translate political commitments into practical cooperation.
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