Khramort villagers demand to withdraw Azeri militaries away

The residents of the Karabakh village of Khramort, interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot", believe that they will be able to live in peace only if Azerbaijani militaries are removed from the village.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that in recent days the situation on the Azerbaijani-Nagorno-Karabakh border has aggravated. At night on March 10, Azerbaijani militaries fired about 23 mortar shells in the direction of the Khramort village of the Askeran District, the Nagorno-Karabakh Ministry of Defence (MoD) has informed. A villager was wounded in the back in the yard of his house.

Naira Abramyan, the director of the Khramort village club, told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent that the shelling of the village was as intense as during the war, and "if it were not for the Russian peacemaking contingent that interfered," then perhaps everything would only get worse.

She also said that villagers cannot do their agrarian works, as it is still dangerous to go out into the field or work in gardens. "This morning (on March 15), Azerbaijanis again turned on their loudspeakers with threats and music. In response, Russian peacemakers also used their loudspeakers to announce that the ceasefire regime should not be violated. But this is not yet a guarantee of our security," Ms Abramyan has stated, adding that "the only solution that will bring security to villagers is removal of Azerbaijani military posts."

Zarine Khachiyan, a nurse from Khramort, a mother of two minor children, told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent that the shelling of the village on March 8-12 brought more tension to the condition of local residents. She also believes that "Azerbaijani military posts should be far from peaceful settlements." "It's impossible to see from the window of your house how Azerbaijani militaries are aiming at your village," Ms Khachiyan has noted.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on March 16, 2022 at 04:00 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.