Armenia’s Defense Ministry on Tuesday acknowledged that it has recorded artillery fire along the border with Azerbaijan, adding that the shots are not targeting the territory of Armenia.
The ministry explained that as such it does not issue statements regarding the gunfire, because the shots do not constitute a “violation of the ceasefire regime.”
Throughout last week, Azerbaijan’s defense ministry issued daily statements accusing the Armenian Armed Forces of amassing troops along the border, with Yerevan categorically rejecting those reports.
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan publicly denied Azerbaijan’s allegation and called on Baku to engage in talks to determine the date and venue for the signing of a peace treaty, negotiations around which were concluded two weeks ago, according to the foreign ministries of both countries.
Despite the Armenian Defense Ministry’s statement on Tuesday, residents in at least two villages in Armenia’s Syunik Province—Khoznavar and Khnatsakh—have confirmed Azerbaijani gunfire on a nightly basis.
In an interview with Azatutyun.am on Tuesday, Khoznavar resident Roman Grigoryan said that the shooting incidents have intensified in recent days.
“They shot at 10 o’clock at night, at 2, once at 4, today, and yesterday. Yesterday, while we were clearing the field, they also shot at us. We stopped work for one to two hours, then started again,” Grigoryan told Azatutyun.
According to Manushak Soghomonyan from Khnatsakh, shots have been heard from the Azerbaijani side for the fifth consecutive day, and people in the village are alarmed.
“Five nights of continuous artillery fire, starting at 10:20 until 5:30 in the morning. The people are in a panic, red bullets are passing over the village, the people are scared,” Soghomonyan told Azatutyun.
“They are not [shooting] at the houses, they are shooting at the mountains, maybe one day at the houses so that people can leave the village. We have been in terror for five nights, and they are shooting with different types of weapons,” she added.
When asked by Azatutyun about the last time such a situation occurred before these incidents, the Soghomonyan said, “It happens occasionally, but the village population has not been harmed for so many years, they just shoot into the air, toward the mountains, in any case it is very dangerous.”
“The most dangerous village in the Syunik region is the one that has a post facing the village, right next to the school, close to the school,” she said.
A resident of Khoznvar reported that the gun shots intensify at night, when the European Union mission observers are no longer in the village.
The administrative heads of the border villages of Syunik did not return calls from Azatutyun, and the head of the Tegh community that oversees the administration of these two villages, Davit Ghulunts, refused to provide any details, suggesting that he would personally go to the village to get acquainted with the situation.
Last weekend, there was also information about shots fired in Sotk, but the defense minister last week did not directly respond to reporters’ questions in parliament, only saying that his ministry only issues statement about dangerous shootings and ceasefire violations.
