Armenia says Azerbaijani fire damaged building in border village

According to Armenia’s Defence Ministry, on Sunday evening, units of the Armed Forces of Azerbaijan ‘discharged fire in the direction of the Khnatsakh [village] in the Syunik Province, resulting in damage to the village’s cultural centre’. The alleged ceasefire violation came just two days after Azerbaijan accused Armenian Armed Forces of firing in their direction, an allegation Armenia has denied.

The incident on Sunday occurred at approximately 22:20. The ministry noted that no casualties were reported, and included a number of photos to the official statement depicting the alleged damage.

The ministry additionally called on the Azerbaijani side to ‘conduct an investigation into the shelling of the Khnatsakh cultural centre and to provide public explanations’.

This is the second time Armenia has accused Azerbaijan of opening fire towards Khnatsakh, causing damage.

On 31 March, the Armenian Defence Ministry reported that a residential house had been damaged from Azerbaijani fire. Attached to the official statement were images of a window broken due to a bullet striking it, and the remains of the bullet itself.

Yerevan rejects Baku’s ceasefire violation accusations, claims Azerbaijan has fired towards Armenia

Armenia claimed that Azerbaijan opened fire towards the Khnatsakh settlement in Syunik, damaging a residential house.

OC MediaXandie (Alexandra) Kuenning

Monday’s accusation came just two days after Azerbaijan issued its 24th ceasefire violation accusation since the 13 March announcement that Armenia and Azerbaijan had agreed on the terms of a historic peace deal.

As with all the prior accusations, the Armenian Defence Ministry issued a statement denying that their units had opened fire towards Azerbaijani combat positions located in the eastern and southeastern sections of the border between 20:10 and 23:15 on 11 April.

Prior to the ministry’s statement regarding the damaged cultural centre, Armenian Deputy Defence Minister Arman Sargasyan told reporters that the situation on the frontline was ‘relatively stable’.

‘The gunshots which happen sometimes from the adversary’s side are untargeted gunshots’, Sargaysan said, while noting that such gunshots happen infrequently.

He also claimed that there was no buildup of Azerbaijani military on the border.

‘The primary objective is to ensure security, and I’d like to repeat that at this moment the situation on the frontline is relatively stable, and we will immediately release information in case of any problem arising’, Sargasyan said.

Over the last month, there have been numerous reports from Armenia’s border villages of shootings from the Azerbaijani side, particularly at night. In response, the EU Mission in Armenia (EUMA) recently announced an increase in the number of night patrols along the Armenian side of the Armenia–Azerbaijan border.

EUMA increases nighttime patrols as Azerbaijani accusations of ceasefire violations mount

There have been over 20 ceasefire accusations by Azerbaijan since the announcement that the terms of a peace deal had been agreed upon in March.

OC MediaXandie (Alexandra) Kuenning