(Yerevan) Armenia announced Thursday that it had arrested five people accused of planning a bombing and attacks targeting civilians and government buildings in this Caucasian country hit by tensions since the loss of Nagorno-Karabakh.
Armenian security services claimed to have foiled “preparations for a terrorist attack […] planned with the aim of obstructing the functioning of the organs of government.
This attack included “a bomb attack”, “other socially dangerous acts” and “the seizure of government buildings”, according to the same source, who added that they had seized weapons and ammunition from the suspects’ homes.
Armenian security services identified the suspects only by their initials and did not mention potential motivations for the attack.
Political tensions have been high in Armenia since Azerbaijan’s victory following a lightning military offensive in September against the Armenian separatists of Nagorno-Karabakh, whom the Yerevan government refused to help so as not to be drawn into a new war against Baku.
Armenian opposition parties have organized anti-government protests demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian, to whom they already blame a previous military defeat against Azerbaijan in 2020.
The majority of Karabakh’s population, more than 100,000 people, fled the enclave for Armenia, causing a wave of refugees.