Several Opposition Supporters Wounded In Armed Attack In Armenian Village

The Ohanyan-Raffi-Oskanyan (ORO) opposition alliance, formed ahead of the April parliamentary election between former Armenian defense minister Seyran Ohanyan, former foreign minister Vardan Oskanyan, and Heritage party leader Raffi Hovhannisyan, accused representatives of the ruling Republican party on Tuesday of organizing an armed attack on its supporters in the Armavir village of Jrarat. The attack, ORO said in a statement, has left three local men hospitalized with gunshot and knife wounds.

Just two days prior to the incident, on March 12, ORO had said after a campaign rally in Jrarat, some of its local supporters had clashed with supporters and representatives of the ruling party. According to the opposition alliance, Jrarat Republican mayor Samvel Galstyan had swore at and threatened an ORO supporters, while one of Galstyan’s companions, Lernik Yeranosyan, had pulled a gun on the man. The argument eventually developed into a brawl, during which Yeranosyan, who is a relative of the deputy chief of the national police Levon Yeranosyan, and Mikayel Baboyan suffered physical injuries.