EU Monitors Confirm Gunshots in Armenian Border Village

YEREVAN — European Union monitors confirmed on Tuesday that an Armenian border village was targeted by gunshots which local residents and Armenia’s Defense Ministry say were fired from nearby Azerbaijani army positions.

“Over the Easter weekend EUMA (the EU monitoring mission in Armenia) conducted 27 day and night patrols in its Area of Operation including villages Khoznavar, Khnatsakh and Aravus,” the mission said in an X post. “In Khoznavar EUMA observed the impact of two shots damaging civilian infrastructure, possibly originating from an [Azerbaijani] position in the area.”

The gunfire damaged early on Monday a solar panel on the rooftop of a village house belonging to the family of Karine Hakobjanyan including three children.

“They [Azerbaijani troops] shoot every night at 10:20 p.m, at 12:30 a.m., at 2:30 a.m., at 4 a.m.,” the woman told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service.

The Defense Ministry in Yerevan urged Azerbaijani side on Monday to investigate the incident and come up with “public clarifications.” Baku did not respond as of Tuesday afternoon.

Residents of Khoznavar and the nearby village of Khnatsakh have reported nightly gunfire from Azerbaijani army positions for almost a month. It began days after Azerbaijan started accusing Armenian troops of violating the ceasefire regime on a regular basis. The accusations denied by the Armenian military followed official announcements on March 13 that the two conflicting sides have bridged their differences on the text of an Armenian-Azerbaijani peace treaty.