Azerbaijani mine agency defuses some 544 mines, munitions

By Azernews

By Sabina Mammadli

Some 544 mines and unexploded ordnances have been defused in the liberated territories on October 24-29, Azernews reports, citing the Azerbaijani National Agency for Mine Action (ANAMA).

During the demining operations, the agency discovered 49 anti-personnel, 97 anti-tank mines, and 398 unexploded ordnances in Tartar, Aghdam, Khojavand, Fuzuli, Shusha, Gubadli, Jabrayil, and Zangilan districts.

A 350-ha-area was cleared of mines and unexploded ordnances during the reporting period.

Armenia planted land mines in Azerbaijani territory, not only during the 30-year-long occupation but also just days before leaving the Azerbaijani lands, as envisaged in the trilateral declaration to cause human casualties.

Civilians and military personnel are frequently maimed or killed as a result of mine explosions in Azerbaijan's liberated regions.

In the late mine blasts in Tartar and Lachin districts on October 21 and 23, three Azerbaijani citizens were seriously hurt, one of them subsequently dying in the hospital. The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry reported that the number of victims had reached 262 as a result of Armenian-planted mine explosions in the liberated lands.

Armenia deliberately and constantly planted mines on Azerbaijani territories, in violation of the 1949 Geneva Convention, thereby being a major threat to regional peace, security, and cooperation.