The situation in the direction of Sotk in Gegharkunik district of Armenia has been tense for the last three days. On April 13, 14, 15, 16, the Azerbaijani armed forces fired at the mine. The gold mine is not able to return to its normal work.
“Geopromining Gold” company, which operates the Sotk gold mine, informs that the work was stopped on Saturday morning, and it was not possible to restore it even on Monday. The company announced that the Azerbaijani side starts shooting when the employees try to enter the mine area, after which the employees are quickly evacuated.
These days, according to one of the residents of Sotk, there have been no shootings in the direction of the village. The interlocutor of Forrights.am said that, despite it, there was tension in the village.
“These few days were tense, very tense. Some of the mothers let the village with their children. Those with children have left, but they will come back after it has calmed down. There have been constant shootings, but since today (Monday evening, author) they have stopped,” said our interlocutor.
The resident of Sotk reported that the enemy opened fire from all sides simultaneously. “The workers of the mine were taken out. They shot at the mine and cars. Now, they are calm. They were shooting from their posts to all directions. They had came down and hit the cars,” he said, noting that there were no shots in the direction of the village.
Our interlocutor said that the residents of Sotk avoided taking their cattle to the pasture in the last few days. “We did not remove the cattle, we kept them in the barns,” he said.
To remind, the Azerbaijani side targeted Sotk and other settlements on September 13, 2022. Not only military objects were destroyed in the village, but also civilian ones, including residential houses. The Armenian side suffered human and territorial losses in those days. Forrights.am reported back in December 2022 that the body of Shiraz Khachatryan, who died in the fighting in September, was not possible to be handed over to his family. He is from Pokr Masrik village of the same region.
On April 17, the Ministry of Defense of Armenia too addressed the shootings in the direction of Sotk. The spread message states: “On April 16, around 10:50 p.m., units of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces opened fire from different caliber rifles at the Armenian positions located in the direction of Sotk. The Armenian side has no losses. As of 10:00 a.m., the situation on the front line is relatively stable.”
It should be noted that there are contradictions in the statement of the defense department, because according to the information of the representative of the mine and the resident of Sok, there were shootings on Monday as well.
Narek Kirakosyan