Azernews.Az

By Vafa Ismayilova

Azerbaijan has cleared 3,300 hectares of arable lands of mines and unexploded ordnance in territories iberated from Armenia's occupation in a war in 2020, a source at the Aghdam region executive office reported on June 9.

Some 2,190 hectares of cleared lands have been sown with wheat.

"It is planned to start harvesting wheat in the territories liberated from the occupation soon. For this purpose, the preparatory work is underway," the source said.

Azerbaijani territories liberated from Armenia's occupation in the 44-war in autumn 2020 are currently being demined at a high pace. The Mine Action Agency experts demine the territories intended for building roads and infrastructure facilities, and for laying cable communication lines. The territories aimed for cropping are also being cleared of mines.

On 4 June, First Vice-President Mehriban Aliyeva said that since the end of the war, more than 140 Azerbaijanis had fallen victims to mines on the liberated territories.

“Twenty-seven of them died. Responsibility for the death of innocent people rests squarely with the military-political leadership of Armenia," she said.

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev earlier described Armenia’s failure to provide the mine maps as the main difficulty for Azerbaijani IPDs to return to their homes. He said that this is yet another war crime by Armenia as several servicemen and civilians were killed in mine blasts on the liberated territories after the war.

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