Three more UXOs detected by ANAMA
By Rashid Shirinov
During the June15 inspection in the front-line areas, Azerbaijan National Agency for Mine Action (ANAMA) found three unexploded ordnance (UXOs).
Two of them were detected during the exploration of the Jamilli and Shikharkh villages in Tartar region. The Agency found an engine of Grad rocket system and an OF-412 shell of 100 mm caliber.
The third UXO – a shell of 152 mm caliber -- was detected in Horadiz, Agdam region. ANAMA ensured its neutralization via explosion on June 16.
The Agency inspected three houses and gardens, three acreages, 17 shell craters, discovered and defused three unexploded ordnance, inspected and cleansed an area of 23,260 square meters on June 15.
Overall, 605 houses and household plots, 22 farms, five rural schools, two military units and rural cemeteries, a medical center, acreages and winery in Zardab, Tartar, Shamkir, Agjabedi, Agdam, Fizuli, Tovuz, Goranboy, Samukh, Shamkir, Jalilabad and Ujar regions, Mingachevir, Baku and Sumgayit were inspected from April 7 to June 15 by ANAMA. As a result, 1,531 UXOs, 17 anti-personnel and seven anti-tank mines were detected and neutralized.
Currently, special rapid response teams of ANAMA with minesweeper dogs continue their operations for detecting UXBs in the border settlements.
Azerbaijan and Armenia fought a lengthy war that ended with the signing of a fragile ceasefire in 1994. Since the war, Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan's territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding regions. More than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed and over 1 million were displaced as a result of the large-scale hostilities.
While the OSCE Minsk Group acted as the only mediator in resolution of the conflict, the occupation of the territory of the sovereign State with its internationally recognized boundaries has been left out of due attention of the international community for years.
Armenia ignores four UN Security Council resolutions on immediate withdrawal from the occupied territory of Azerbaijan, thus keeping tension high in the region.
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Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov
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