Police Escort Needed for Transporting Bodies of Fallen Soldiers from Stepanakert

The Goris-Stepanakert highway is no longer safe, even for vehicles transporting remains. Menua Hovhsepyan, the deputy mayor of Goris, stated in an interview with 'Factinfo' that the safety of the roads is not guaranteed.

As reported earlier, an emergency incident occurred the day before when a vehicle transporting remains from Stepanakert was attacked; Azerbaijanis threw stones and shattered the windows.

The deputy mayor recounted that the driver arrived late at the Stepanakert morgue, collected the bodies, and encountered problems on the way back. 'It was one of the vehicles that has been transporting our fallen soldiers' bodies from Stepanakert since the very first days of the war. The driver has been in Shushi and Stepanakert during the harshest days of the war. He knows the routes well, behaves correctly, and is fully in control of everything; this did not happen to an accidental person. The incident happened to someone who travels almost every day,' said Hovhsepyan, noting that this incident further proves that road safety is not assured.

According to him, the driver was alone. There is ample reason to be concerned that the enemy will not be limited to just throwing stones. The municipality has suggested from the very beginning that drivers travel the dangerous roads armed, but since carrying weapons is prohibited, they are forced to travel without security guarantees. 'We will probably turn to the police to escort drivers transporting the bodies of fallen soldiers from Stepanakert to Goris,' said Menua Hovhsepyan, adding that the driver is a 'tough guy' but it is a fact that the same incident could have happened to, for example, a citizen traveling with his family.