Azerbaijani gunfire targeting Armenian village seeks to create panic, warns lawmaker

A senior Armenian lawmaker said on Thursday that Azerbaijan seeks to create panic among the population by targeting a border village with small arms fire across the border. 

A residential home in the village of Khoznavar, Syunik Province was hit by bullets fired by the Azeri military.

“The goal of the Azerbaijani side is to create panic and anxiety, and of course when shots are fired near the village some villagers are concerned,” Member of Parliament Armen Khachatryan (Civil Contract), the Deputy Chair of the Defense and Security Affairs Committee of Parliament told reporters. “Naturally, when they see the bullets hitting their roofs or various buildings, of course it is concerning.”

Khachatryan noted that several such cases have been recorded already.

“Unfortunately, such cases continue to happen periodically. Ballistic and several other expertise investigations are assigned, criminal cases opened to determine the trajectory of the bullets, whether they were targeted shots, accidental or happened in other circumstances. The picture will become clearer after the investigation,” the MP said.

On May 29, between 1:00 a.m. and 1:15 a.m., units of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces opened fire in the direction of the Khoznavar village in the Syunik Province, causing damage to a residential house, the Armenian Defense Ministry said in a press release.

No casualties were reported, the ministry said.