Azerbaijan: Karabakh War invalid tries to burn himself, leader of veterans' organization reports

Maarif Veliev, a Karabakh War invalid, made a self-immolation attempt in the Azerbaijani town of Barda and is now is in hospital, said Etimad Asadov, the head of the public association "Karabakh Veterans". The town authorities refute the information about the self-immolation attempt.

According to Etimad Asadov, on January 28, in front of the building of the executive power of the Barda District, Maarif Veliev, a Category II invalid, a resident of the village of Alpout, tried to burn himself down and was taken to hospital. Asadov asserts that the veteran did it, because the authorities refused to provide him with a land plot.

However, a source from the on duty unit of the Barda ROVD (District Interior Division) told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent that no self-immolation attempt undertaken by a certain Maarif Veliev was registered.

The health status of another invalid Nizami Kerimov, who tried to burn himself down in Yevlakh on January 27, remains grave, a source from the medical facility told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

According to his relatives, the 45-year-old Kerimov attempted self-immolation in protest against the refusal to pay him the targeted social benefits.