Some 199 mines, munitions defused in liberated lands

28 September 2021 12:15 (UTC+04:00)

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By Ayya Lmahamad

Some 199 mines and munitions were found and defused on Azerbaijan's liberated territories from September 20 to September 25, Azerbaijan's Mine Action Agency has reported on its official Twitter page.

The agency found and defused 72 anti-personnel, six anti-tank and 121 unexploded munitions in Tartar, Aghdam, Fuzuli, Shusha, Gubadli, Jabrayil and Zangilan regions during the reported period.

Overall, 185 hectares were cleared of mines and unexploded ordnance in this period.

Armenia deliberately and constantly planted mines on Azerbaijani territories, in violation of the 1949 Geneva Convention, thereby being a major threat to regional peace, security and cooperation.

Over 160 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.

On June 12, Azerbaijan handed over 15 Armenian prisoners in exchange for a map detailing the location of 97,000 mines in formerly-occupied Aghdam.

On July 3, Armenia submitted to Azerbaijan maps of about 92,000 anti-tank and anti-personnel mines planted during the occupation of Fuzuli and Zangilan regions.

However, the accuracy of the maps provided by Armenia 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 signed a Russia-brokered peace agreement on November 10, 2020, to end 44 days of fighting and work toward a comprehensive resolution.

Ayya Lmahamad is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @AyyaLmahamad