YEREVAN (ArmenPress) — The Azerbaijani military has been keeping the only wheatfield in Sarushen village under gunfire for a long time to deprive the residents of the opportunity of producing bread, Nagorno-Karabakh State Minister Gurgen Nersisyan warned on Saturday, August 19.
Farmers and their agricultural equipment are targeted by Azerbaijani forces from a nearby outpost whenever they try to approach the wheatfield for harvesting.
On August 15, the Nagorno-Karabakh authorities reported that a man died of starvation in Nagorno-Karabakh as a result of the ongoing Azerbaijani blockade which has led to a humanitarian disaster.
“Although every time the date and time of the planned harvest is coordinated by the Russian peacekeepers with the Azerbaijani side, and the harvest is organized at the presence of the peacekeepers on the ground, as soon as the work starts, constant shooting from various small arms starts taking place, and the agricultural work gets suspended while the civilians are taken to a safe location by the peacekeepers,” Nersisyan added.
“The residents of Sarushen are deprived of their only source of bread, the chance of collecting grain,” Nersisyan said. Farmers in Sarushen have come under Azerbaijani gunfire many times throughout the week.
