Opposition claims political motives of shooting in Armenia

The conflict with shooting in Nigavan, which killed two people and wounded five others, broke out between supporters and opponents of Nikol Pashinyan, oppositional MPs have stated.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that in the evening on June 19, a conflict broke out in the village of Nigavan, Aragatsotn Region, which ended in shooting. As a result, seven persons were hospitalized; two of them later died in hospital.

Supporters of the "Resistance" movement announced an urgent gathering in France Square, from where they plan to march to the offices of the ruling "Civil Contract" Party, the Armenian Police and the National Security Service (NSS) of Armenia.

Gegam Manukyan, an MP from the "Aiyastan" faction of the Armenian Parliament, who is also a member of the ARF "Dashnaktsutyun" Party, has stated that the incident occurred "with the participation of supporters of the ruling power." "Those guilty and responsible for the lawlessness reigning in the country must immediately resign," he has written in his Facebook* page.

The incident occurred between Nikol Pashinyan's supporters and opponents, the "politik.am" outlet has reported. Relatives of an MP from the "Civil Contract" Party and a nephew of a high-ranking official opened a submachine gun fire at "the young people who used obscene words against Nikol Pashinyan," the report says.

The Armenian Police claim that the brawl with shooting broke out on the domestic basis.

*On March 21, the Tverskoi Court of Moscow banned the activities of the "Meta" Company (that owns the Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp) in Russia because of alleged extremist activities.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on June 20, 2022 at 10:35 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.