Armenia's mines meant for Azerbaijani civilians kill Armenians
By Jamila Babayeva
A mine planted by Armenian forces in Azerbaijan's occupied Kalbajar region exploded on July 22.
A driver died on the spot and the three others including Mayor of Armavir Ruben Khlghatyan got injured. The wounded were transferred to capital Yerevans' Erebuni hospital for treatment, local media reported.
"All the three wounded have fractures, concussion of the brain, hemorrhage, multiple injuries, brain contusion and spine fracture," media report said.
Local media found out that Armavir's mayor accompanied by his friends was driving to Azerbaijani occupied region for hunting when the explosion took place.
In this moment the recent statement of Defense Minister Seyran Ohanyan should be mentioned.
Ohanyan said Armenia will mine all ways leading from Azerbaijan to the occupied Kalbajar region. Kalbajar has been under Armenia's occupation since 1993. He noted that the army of the so-called "Nagorno-Karabakh Republic" is currently searching all routes to Kalbajar to mine them.
The minister made the remark after Armenian forces took hostage three Azerbaijani civilians in the occupied Kalbajar region.
Three Azerbaijani civilians (reportedly Russian citizen Dilgam Ahmadov and Azerbaijani citizens Shahbaz Guliyev and Hasan Hasanov) were detained by Armenian forces in early July while they were visiting the graves of their late relatives. There is no information about them so far.
Armenia violated the international legal norms by taking hostage the Azerbaijani civilians as they didn't violate any border law between Armenia and Azerbaijan. They were on their own native Kalbajar region.
Armenian's mines are expected to target peaceful Azerbaijani population. So they do not dare to walk on their native land.
It seems Ohanyan has already instructed army to mine Azerbaijani occupied territories and Armavir's hunt-lover mayor was the first victim of his measure.
Local media reported that Armenian officials often hunt in the occupied Azerbaijani territories.
As 53,340 Azerbaijanis from the Kalbajar region are living as IDPs and refugees deprived of their rights of free movement over the past 20 years, Armenian officials enjoy hunting in this region.
Armenia occupied over 20 percent of Azerbaijan's internationally recognized territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent regions, after laying territorial claims against its South Caucasus neighbor that caused a brutal war in the early 1990s.