Emergencies Ministry sets up new mine search regiment
By Vafa Ismayilova
The Emergencies Ministry has set up a new mine search regiment on the Azerbaijani territories liberated from Armenia's occupation in 2020.
Emergencies Minister Kamaladdin Heydarov made the remarks in an interview with journalists.
The minister stressed that from the first days, employees of the Fire Protection Service of the Ministry worked in these territories.
He noted that the ministry trained 74 new mine detector specialists.
"Some 120 mine detecting devices were imported and handed over to these specialists. The new regiment, together with Turkish specialists and personnel of the Azerbaijan National Agency for Mine Action (ANAMA) continues to hold demining operations.
Azerbaijan will purchase new mine detection robots to use them in the lands liberated from the Armenian occupation, he added.
"Armenia planted many mines in previously occupied lands. The lands must be cleared of mines as soon as possible to speed up the construction and restoration work. Currently, besides mine detecting devices, the work is also underway to purchase mine detection robots," he said.
"This work is being carried out by the Ministry of Emergency Situations in cooperation with Azerbaijan National Agency for Mine Action (ANAMA) and the Ministry of Defense," Heydarov added.
Heydarov added that the number of mine detector specialists is being increased. The minister added that the more greenery is, the more difficult is to find mines.
"But it is winter now, the grass is drying out, the mine clearance operations are being rapidly conducted," the minister said.
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.
The Mine Action Agency reported that 10,456 anti-personnel and 4,683 anti-tank mines, as well as 12,659 unexploded ordnances, were found and defused in Tartar, Aghdam, Fuzuli, Shusha, Gubadli, Jabrayil, and Zangilan regions from November 10, 2020, to November 30, 2021.
On June 12, Azerbaijan handed over 15 Armenian prisoners in exchange for a map detailing the location of 97,000 mines in 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.
Yerevan submitted to Baku all mine maps of Azerbaijan's liberated territories as a result of talks through Russia's mediation on December 4, 2021. The accuracy of the maps is still to be checked.
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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