Over 1,000 mines, munitions defused in Karabakh in Aug 2021
By Vafa Ismayilova
Azerbaijan's Mine Action Agency has said that in August it defused 1,028 mines and munitions on territories liberated from Armenia's occupation in the last year's war.
Some 455 anti-personnel and 70 anti-tank mines, as well as 503 unexploded munitions were detected and neutralized in Tartar, Aghdam, Fuzuli, Shusha, Gubadli, Jabrayil, and Zangilan regions in the reported period, the agency said.
In total, 634 hectares of land were cleared of mines and unexploded munitions.
Over 140 Azerbaijanis have been killed or injured in the explosion of mines planted by Armenians in Azerbaijan’s formerly occupied regions since the end of the war in autumn 2020 that saw Azerbaijan liberate most of its territories in and around the Nagorno-Karabakh region.
Azerbaijan has warned its citizens against traveling to formerly occupied territories without permission, citing land mine threats.
On June 12, Armenia submitted to Azerbaijan mine maps for Aghdam, and on July 3 mine maps for Fuzuli and Zangilan. The mine maps show that Armenian planted 97,000 mines in Aghdam and 92,000 mines in Fuzuli and Zangilan.
In his interview to CNN Turk channel on August 14, President Ilham Aliyev said that the accuracy of the maps provided by Armenia at the latest stage is only 25 percent.
The scale of destruction in Azerbaijan’s formerly occupied territories suggests deep hatred and animosity against Azerbaijanis, with many experts describing these mass destructions as genocide.
Azerbaijan and Armenia resumed the second war after that latter started firing at Azerbaijani civilians and military positions starting September 27, 2020. The war ended on November 10 with the signing of a trilateral peace deal by the Azerbaijani, Russian and Armenian leaders.
The peace agreement stipulated the return of Azerbaijan's Armenian-occupied Kalbajar, Aghdam and Lachin regions. Before the signing of the deal, the Azerbaijani army had liberated around 300 villages, settlements, city centres and historic Shusha city. 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.
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