2,051 hectares of liberated lands cleared of mines
By Aisha Jabbarova
Azerbaijan has so far cleared of mines and unexploded ordnance 2,051 hectares of territories liberated from the Armenian occupation, representative of National Agency for Mine Clearance of Territories of Azerbaijan (ANAMA) Idris Ismayilov told Trend on May 6.
Ismayilov said that the territories around houses and household plots are being cleared of mines in Fuzuli, Jabrayil, Zangilan, Gubadli, Aghdam, Tartar, Khojavend districts, Shusha city. Some 18,648 mines and unexploded ordnance were found and neutralized during these operations.
Meanwhile, ANAMA plans to purchase new equipment for mechanical demining in addition to the six mechanical demining machines at its disposal, Trend quoted Musa Mammadov from ANAMA as saying.
Mamamdov said that service dogs are used in the de-mining process. “The agency has 30 such dogs. At present, we carry out activities in three ways. These are manual de-mining, the use of mine detection dogs, and mechanical systems.”
He added that the specified equipment can be purchased in Turkey or other countries with which cooperation in this direction was previously established.
Azerbaijan has been clearing of mines its territories liberated from the Armenian occupation during the six-week-war in 2020. Armenia has refused to provides maps of around 100,000 mines that have planted in Azerbaijan’s formerly-occupied territories. Dozens of Azerbaijani civilians have been killed in mine explosions in these lands.