The European Union monitoring mission in Armenia confirmed Azerbaijani gunfire on a border village in the Syunik Province, as a result of which a residence was damaged.
The EU mission, in a statement posted on social media on Tuesday, said that it had conducted 27 patrols over the Easter weekend. The villages of Khoznavar, Khnatsakh and Aravus in Syunik were part of the “day and night” patrols carried out.
“In Khoznavar EUMA observed the impact of two shots damaging civilian infrastructure, possibly originating from an Azrbaijani position in the area,” the EU Mission said in a post on X.
Armenia’s Defense Ministry reported on Monday that on April 20, at approximately 2:30 a.m. local time, units of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces opened fire in the direction of Khoznavar in Syunik Province, causing damage to a solar water heater installed on the roof of a residential building.
“No casualties were reported. The Defense Ministry urged the Azerbaijani side to conduct a thorough investigation into the shelling of the residential building in Khoznavar and to issue a public explanation,” the Armenian defense ministry said in a statement.
Residents of Khoznavar, Khnatsakh and other nearby villages have been reporting sporadic gunfire from Azerbaijani forces. In the past two weeks such gunfire has damaged not only a residential building, but also a cultural center.
Yet Armenian government officials are downplaying the threats facing residents in those villages. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and other high-level members of the government have urged Baku to sign a peace treaty, despite ongoing Azerbaijani claims that Armenian Armed Forces are amassing troops along the border.
Azerbaijan has not responded to Yerevan’s proposal to create a mechanism that records and investigates border violations.
