House in Artsakh’s Taghavard damaged in Azerbaijani shooting, ombudsman says

Panorama, Armenia
Sept 7 2021

Azerbaijani forces deployed near the Karmir Shuka and Taghavard settlements of the Martuni region of the Artsakh Republic opened fire at the Armenian positions and peaceful settlements on Monday, at around 7:30pm, Artsakh Human Rights Ombudsman Gegham Stepanyan said in a Facebook post on Tuesday.

The house of one of the residents of the Taghavard community was damaged in the Azerbaijani shooting. 3 bullets hit the wall of the house, while 1 bullet hit the window of one of the bedrooms.

6 civilians, including a minor, live in the house damaged as a result of the shooting, the ombudsman said.

After midnight, the Azerbaijani side continued shooting, but no casualties and material damage were reported.

Russian peacekeepers and the Artsakh law enforcement agencies were notified of the incident.

“The Azerbaijani positions deployed in the vicinity of peaceful settlements pose an immediate and real threat to the life, health and other vital rights of the Artsakh people and disrupt the normal life and activities of the people living in these settlements,” Stepanyan said, underlining that the failure to hold the perpetrators accountable leads to recurrence of such incidents.

“A comprehensive investigation of all ceasefire violation cases, including with the involvement of Russian peacekeepers, is extremely urgent,” he said.