Some 133 mines, munitions found in liberated lands
By Ayya Lmahamad
Some 133 mines and munitions were found and defused on Azerbaijan's liberated territories from November 8 to November 13, the Mine Action Agency has reported on its official Twitter page.
The agency found and defused 57 anti-personnel and 56 anti-tank mines, as well as 20 unexploded ordnances in Tartar, Aghdam, Fuzuli, Shusha, Gubadli, Jabrayil and Zangilan regions during the reported period.
Overall, 63.6 hectares were cleared of mines and unexploded ordnance in this period.
It should be noted that Azerbaijan’s Mine Action Agency (ANAMA), along with the partner countries, carries out demining activities on its liberated territories.
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.
Some 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.
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.
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.
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Ayya Lmahamad is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @AyyaLmahamad
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