False Bomb Threats Continue to Come in as Suspect Arrested

Harutyun Chebeyan, who manages a shift at the ministry’s National Crisis Management Center, said bomb threats received by e-mail mostly concern important transport hubs, such as the Yerevan metro and the Zvartnots international airport near the Armenian capital.

Evacuation of people in response to bomb threats have caused discontent about inconveniences among commuters and visitors of shopping centers in Yerevan in recent months.

But the official said that even though all previous bomb threats eventually proved to be false, security and emergency services have to respond to them and take action every single time.

Amid the spike in the number of false bomb alerts in recent months, Armenia’s National Security Service on Monday called on the media and citizens “to refrain from publishing unverified information and comments on the Internet about the threat of terrorist attacks in Armenia and to use only official reports in order to avoid unnecessary panic among the population.”

Cybersecurity expert Samvel Martirosyan said that email alerts about explosive devices are often sent during crisis situations similar to the shopping center explosion in Armenia.