In a statement, the ministry said the cross-border gunfire struck a solar panel on the rooftop of the house in the village Khoznavar. It released photographs purportedly showing the damage as well as a bullet found at the scene.
“Nobody was hurt,” the added the statement.
The ministry declined to explicitly condemn the reported ceasefire violation, urging Azerbaijani side instead to investigate the incident and come up with “public clarifications.” It reacted in the same way after a cultural center in the nearby village of Khnatsakh came under similar fire on April 14.
The Azerbaijani military did not immediately react to the statement.
Residents of Khnatsakh and Khoznavar have reported nightly gunfire from Azerbaijani army positions for almost a month. According to them, it usually starts after 10 p.m. and continues through the night, keeping villagers on edge.
Two Khnatsakh residents who spoke with RFE/RL’s Armenian Service by phone on Monday said gunshots fired by Azerbaijani troops intensified overnight.
“It felt like a war is breaking out,” said one of them.
“The kids are scared. So are the adults … It’s been like this for a month,” said the other villager.
The cross-border gunfire, which the Defense Ministry in Yerevan has consistently downplayed, began days after Azerbaijan started accusing Armenian troops of violating the ceasefire regime on a virtually daily basis. The accusations denied by the Armenian military followed official announcements on March 13 that the two conflicting sides have bridged their differences on the text of an Armenian-Azerbaijani peace treaty.
Baku has made clear that it will not sign the treaty without securing more Armenian concessions. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev warned last week that Armenia will risk a “new military confrontation” with Azerbaijan unless it makes those concessions.
Armenian opposition figures have accused Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s government of underreporting the situation along the Armenian-Azerbaijani border. They say the government is reluctant to admit that unilateral concessions already made by Pashinian will not end the conflict with Azerbaijan anytime soon.
Pashinian ruled out last week the possibility of a fresh Azerbaijani military attack on Armenia, contradicting statements made by his foreign minister. The premier declined to answer on Monday a reporter’s question about the latest shooting incident.
European Union monitors deployed along Armenia’s border with Azerbaijan have still not publicly commented on the reported truce violations. The monitoring mission only said on April 9 that it has “increased the number of night patrols along the Armenian side of [the border] to enhance nighttime security and safety and relieve possible tensions.”