Ever since Wednesday night when the Azerbaijani soldiers have closed off the Goris-Kapan motorway of Armenia, the villages of Shurnukh, Vorotan and Bardzravan have been deprived of their main roads connecting to Goris and Kapan cities, whereas their alternative roads are in such a bad condition that the villagers cannot use them yet.
“There are field roads leading to Tatev [village] from near the forest, but they are in very bad condition, it is not possible for an ambulance or another car to travel along there; it is only possible to move by off-road vehicles. That is why the traffic is closed now. People are going, buying food from outside, but they still can’t,” Onik Avagyan, the head of Bardzravan village, told Armenian News-NEWS.am.
Shurnukh village mayor Hakob Arshakyan told Armenian News-NEWS.am that it can be said that they were under blockade.
“We have an alternative road with the project which the Red Cross would fund; it refused. Now we are discussing with the border troops the issue of such a road whereby at least food enter, or, God forbid, there will be an issue of transporting a patient or evacuation,” Arshakyan said, noting that the situation in the village is normal.
According to the mayor of Shurnukh, it will take 10 to 15 days to put the alternative road of the village in order.
The village of Vorotan also has an alternative road, which, however, is difficult to pass, and therefore the locals cannot use it.
According to Kapan mayor Gevorg Parsyan’s information, Russian peacekeepers brought bread to Vorotan today.
As reported earlier, the Azerbaijani soldiers have blocked a section of the Goris-Kapan motorway as of 11pm Wednesday, and they refuse to reopen it. About four dozen cars on this road section were evacuated at night. At the moment, the Kapan-Goris motorway is closed near Vorotan. And according to the mayor of Kapan, respective negotiations are not underway yet, but they are planned later in the day.
And the Office of the Human Rights Defender (Ombudsman) of Armenia reported that at around 12:20pm on Thursday, the Azerbaijani servicemen have closed off as well the road leading from Goris city to Vorotan village in Syunik Province.