Azernews.Az

Akbar Novruz

Read more

Azerbaijan is among the countries most affected by landmines globally, and the issue requires urgent international attention and support, the US magazine The National Interest writes.

According to Azernews, the publication notes that Azerbaijan is already conducting large-scale mine clearance operations in its liberated areas, but the extent of mine contamination necessitates coordinated international assistance. The magazine recalls that around 3,500 Azerbaijani citizens, including 361 children, have fallen victim to landmines to date.

It further states that since the end of military operations in November 2020, 388 people have been killed or injured by mines, the vast majority of them civilians. These incidents have also delayed the return of more than 700,000 internally displaced persons to their homes and complicated efforts to locate the remains of approximately 4,000 citizens missing since the war.

The article emphasizes Azerbaijan’s leading role in mine clearance efforts, particularly through the Azerbaijan National Agency for Mine Action (ANAMA), which has neutralized hundreds of thousands of explosive devices. It also highlights Azerbaijan’s cooperation with the United Nations, including hosting three global conferences on mine action and launching, together with the UNDP in May 2024, an initiative to establish an International Center of Excellence and Training for Mine Action in Baku.

However, The National Interest stresses that the scale of the humanitarian challenge makes mine action a global responsibility. It notes that Azerbaijan has called on the UN, the Non-Aligned Movement and other international platforms to recognize the mine threat as an issue affecting peace, development, human rights and environmental restoration.

The publication concludes that without eliminating the mine threat, achieving key objectives such as poverty reduction, education development and climate resilience will remain severely constrained.