Mine clearance starts in Azerbaijan's liberated Aghdam
By Vafa Ismayilova
The Russian Emergencies Ministry's crew of 20 people has begun to demine the territory of Azerbaijan's newly-liberated Aghdam region since January 4, Trend quoted a Russian official as saying.
"The work is currently underway on the minefield. To date, 25 anti-infantry mines have been neutralized by mechanical trawling and an area of more than 2,000 square metres has been cleared. There are anti-infantry pressure mines on the territory," the head of the Federal State Institution Leader Centre for High-Risk Rescue Operations under the ministry, Anatoly Savin, said.
Meanwhile, the Azerbaijan National Agency for Mine Action (ANAMA) said in an operational report for January 6 that six aircraft bombs and a hand grenade had been found as part of emergency operations in the northwestern region of Agstafa and Aghjabadi region near Nagorno-Karabakh.
Specialists of the agency and officers from the regional police departments took the seized bombs and the hand grenade to the agency's central disposal area, ANAMA said.
Some 250 square metres of the ground surface around the grenade and the aircraft bombs was inspected, no additionals dangerous objects and devices were found, the report added.
Six civilians killed in mine blasts since November 10
On December 22, 2020, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry said that 6 civilians and 6 military servicemen were killed and 7 civilians and 14 military servicemen were injured in landmine blasts after the war ended on November 10.
On January 1, 2021, in their joint statement, the Azerbaijani Interior Ministry and ANAMA warned all citizens against visiting liberated territories given that those areas, which came under the enemy fire during the war, were contaminated with mines, unexploded ordnance, explosive devices and explosive remnants of the war. In this regard, citizens are temporarily prohibited from entering those areas until safe travel is possible.
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