Azerbaijanis Deliberately Set Fire to Agricultural Fields in Agarak: 'We See Them Lighting Matches'

For the second day, a fire has broken out in the areas surrounding the village of Agarak in the Syunik region and the border with Azerbaijan. The head of the Agarak administrative district, Hayk Sahakyan, informed Factinfo that Azerbaijanis intentionally burned 16 hectares of land yesterday and today, and the fire that has ignited throughout the border area has not been extinguished.

"These are our lands. The enemy has ignited it from their border, and right now, the fields are burning towards our positions. They start fires every day; we can see it from our village, we see them," he stated.

According to the administrative head, since 1 PM, 10 hectares have been burning. The fire has not been extinguished and is spreading to other grassy areas. These are the rented lands of the village, which are located right next to the border with Azerbaijan. The villagers had managed to harvest the wheat they sowed.

"We had sown wheat in these lands; it has been harvested, but still, it’s our field, and we need to plow again to sow wheat again. We have harvested the wheat, but the fields are burning—the remaining grass, things, fodder are all on fire," he said.

The fire could spread widely, but firefighters are on the scene. Three fire trucks are currently working to extinguish the fire, and the community administration has also brought in water trucks with a capacity of 12 tons.

According to Sahakyan, a large portion of the village, approximately 40 families, has been affected due to Azerbaijani provocations. "Right now, 10 hectares are burning, but the fire continues. Yesterday, 6 hectares also burned. In the village, from the outskirts, you can see the positions and movements at the border. The Azerbaijani side has been setting fires every day for a month; we see them lighting matches. The Azerbaijani side is right on the border of the burning lands, and they are just 1 km away from our village's outskirts,” he added.

The entire border area is burning, and to avoid provocations, the villagers of Agarak, following the example of the Tegh community, are also unable to till the border area as the terrain does not allow it. The villagers do not know how they will cultivate the lands after extinguishing the fire; at this moment, they are not thinking about that as the fields are still burning.