Shots fired from Azerbaijani territory at Armenian airport

PanARMENIAN.Net - Armenia’s National Security Service (NSS) said on Friday, August 18 that an unidentified person fired shots overnight from the territory of Azerbaijan at an Armenian airport in the southeastern town of Kapan stretching along the border with that country.

The NSS said the incident in which windows and the roof of the “Syunik” airport were damaged occurred at 04:24 a.m., less than 24 hours after Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian visited the facility, arriving from Yerevan on board a small passenger aircraft that is due to start regular flights to the Armenian town next week.

According to the report, the unknown person approached the territory of the airport and fired three shots then left.

“We call on the authorities of Azerbaijan to conduct a proper investigation of the incident and to take measures to exclude the repetition of such incidents,” the NSS said in a statement.

“The Border Guard troops of the Republic of Armenia NSS are ready for a joint investigation and/or a transfer of relevant videos to the Azerbaijani side,” it added.

Azerbaijan did not comment on the incident immediately.

The Kapan airport is expected to host the first demonstration passenger flight by a commuter aircraft from Yerevan on August 19, which is marked annually as the town’s day.

Regular commercial flights between the Armenian capital and the town in Armenia’s strategic Syunik province bordering on Iran and sandwiched between Azerbaijan and its western exclave of Nakhichevan are expected to start next week.

On his trip to Kapan on Thursday afternoon the Armenian prime minister was accompanied by Minister of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure Gnel Sanosian.

Syunik Governor Robert Ghukasian, Kapan Mayor Gevorg Parsian and other officials reportedly welcomed the prime minister at Kapan’s recently renovated airport.

A video posted by the Prime Minister’s Office showed Pashinian touring the airport and inspecting its conditions.