One civilian killed, two wounded in mine blast in liberated Fuzuli region

3 February 2021 10:22 (UTC+04:00)

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By Vafa Ismayilova

One Azerbaijani citizen was killed and two were wounded in a mine blast in liberated Fuzuli region on February 2, local news sources have reported.

The Fuzuli region prosecutor's office has filed a criminal case against the incident under Azerbaijani Criminal Code Articles 100.2 (planning, preparing, unleashing, or waging an aggressive war), 116.0.6 (violation of international humanitarian law during armed conflicts), and other articles of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Azerbaijan. The necessary investigative actions over the case are reported to be underway.

Azerbaijani citizens Bahruz Imanov, 40; Azad Mukhtarov, 39, and Rafis Mamishov, 37, blew up on an anti-tank mine at about 17:00 (GMT+4) in Fuzuli region's Yukhari Yaglivend village on February 2, 2021.

Meanwhile, the Azerbaijani Mine Action Agency and the Interior Ministry urged all country residents, in particular children, not to touch any unknown and suspicious items. If such items are found, people must immediately contact the Azerbaijani Interior Ministry's 102 call service.

In late January, two Azerbaijani citizens were wounded in mine blasts in Tartar and Aghdam regions.

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, 2020.

On January 1, 2021, in their joint statement, the Azerbaijani Interior Ministry and the Mine Action Agency 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.

The agency’s work on the liberated territories is being supplemented by Turkish military mine-clearance experts. Azerbaijan’s Defence Ministry reported that 136 Turkish soldiers arrived in mid-December 2020 and begun training their Azerbaijani counterparts. The first group of Turkish sappers arrived in early December. The Turkish soldiers themselves also will be involved in clearing Azerbaijan’s newly-liberated territories.

A Moscow-brokered ceasefire deal that Baku and Yerevan signed on November 10 brought an end to six weeks of fighting between Armenia and Azerbaijan. The Azerbaijani army declared a victory against the Armenian troops. The signed agreement obliged Armenia to withdraw its troops from the Azerbaijani lands that it has occupied since the early 1990s.