Armenian border village residents not evacuated after Azeri attack, MP says
Residents of Tegh, a border village in Armenia’s southeastern Syunik Province, have not been evacuated following Tuesday’s Azerbaijani attack, MP Anna Grigoryan of the opposition Hayastan alliance told Panorama.am on Wednesday.
Grigoryan travelled to the village along with her fellow Hayastan MPs immediately after Azerbaijan attacked Armenian positions in the area.
Armenia’s Defense Ministry said Azerbaijani troops deployed near the Armenian village of Tegh, within Armenian sovereign territory that they seized two weeks ago, opened fire at Armenian soldiers conducting engineering work there late on Tuesday afternoon. The Armenian militray returned fire.
It said the fighting began at around 4 p.m. local time and lasted at least through 5:30 p.m., with Azerbaijani forces firing mortar rounds at Armenian positions.
Four Armenian soldiers were killed and six wounded in the Azerbaijani attack, the ministry said.
In another update, the authorities said the situation in the border area was “relatively stable” as of Wednesday morning.
“The local residents have not been evacuated, but they remain vigilant, realizing that the situation could change at any moment,” Grigoryan said. “They are ready for any scenario and will fight to the end to defend their land.”
The lawmaker blasted Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's government for the failure to prevent the Azerbaijani advance into Armenian territory close to Tegh on 30 March and fortify Armenian militray positions in the area.
“Due to the political leadership’s criminal inaction and failure to carry out border fortifications, Azerbaijani forces advanced into Armenian territory. Yesterday’s incident also occurred within Armenia’s sovereign territory,” she stated.
The MP said the situation on the frontline was relatively stable and there was no panic in the village.