YEREVAN – The night of July 29/30 was a tense one, as Azerbaijan attempted to penetrate Armenia’s airspace and conduct reconnaissance with drones. Armenia’s air defense managed to recognize and destroy these unmanned aerial vehicles in the province of Gegharkunik, in the area of the villages of Pokr Masrik and Kakhakn, which are near the Armenian-Azerbaijani line of contact.
Additionally, throughout the night, random firing was occurring of various caliber weapons.
Later, around 11:20-10:30 in the morning, for around 10 minutes Azerbaijani forces fired on Armenian positions at the border with Nakhichevan, in the area of Yeraskh to Sadarak, with all types of weapons, including sniper rifles. Return fire from the Armenian side silenced the Azerbaijanis. Fortunately there were no Armenian wounded or dead.
I attempted to contact my sources in the Vardenis region, who confirmed that they had heard powerful explosions which lighted up the skies during the destruction of the drones. One source declared, “At one moment, I even thought that the enemy was launchıng rockets, but fortunately, this was not so.”
The mayoralty of Vardenis also confirmed that the explosion was very powerful and frightening, with an official stating, “Yes, it was a powerful explosion. Thousands of people were terrorized and this is a crime of the enemy.”
A resident of Vardenis said also that they already were tired of this tense situation and demanded the authorities solve the matter, exclaiming, “Either this side, or that side — how long can we live in terror? If it is war, let us know. We will volunteer, go and fight. If not, then let it become calm. I do not want our country to resemble Syria and Afghanistan.”
