Over 700 mines, munitions defused in liberated lands in April
Over 700 mines and unexploded ordnance have been defused as a result of joint demining activities carried out in Azerbaijan’s liberated lands on April 1-14, Azertag has reported.
The next meeting of the Working Group on mine and unexploded ordnance (UXO) of the Interdepartmental Center under the Coordination Headquarters discussed the results of the mine clearance activities carried out in the liberated lands under the annual action plan approved by Azerbaijan’s Cabinet of Ministers by April 14.
The meeting was attended by officials of the Azerbaijan Mine Action Agency (ANAMA), as well as the Cabinet of Ministers, the Foreign Ministry, the Economy Ministry, the Defence Ministry, the Emergencies Ministry and the State Border Service.
As a result of humanitarian demining activities carried out by ANAMA on the liberated territories some 506.4 hectares of land were cleared, 595 mines and unexploded ordnance (UXO) were neutralized on April 1-14. In general, some 8372.9 hectares of land were cleared, and 30,572 mines and UXO were defused from November 10, 2020, to April 14, 2022, by ANAMA in the area.
At the meeting, discussions were held on completed and ongoing demining projects based on the requests received by ANAMA.
It was noted that two civilians and one serviceman were injured in a mine explosion in Tartar and Zangilan regions in April.
The Defence Ministry’s special engineering troops cleared some 492.06 hectares of land in Agdam, Kalbajar, Lachin, Gubadli, Shusha, Khojaly and Khojavand regions by neutralizing 71 units of munitions from April 1 to 14, 2022, the ministry reported.
According to the approved action plan, 19 of the ordered projects have already been completed, and work is underway on 14 projects. In general, the Defence Ministry cleared 15,026 hectares of land and neutralized 17,635 mines and UXO.
It was underlined that 13 MEMATT (Mechanical Demining Supply equipment produced by Turkey's ASFAT Company) are expected to be delivered by the end of the month to increase the number of mechanical mine-clearing vehicles to support humanitarian demining activities.
According to the Emergencies Ministry, a total of 1,147,872 square meters of land were cleared and 4,097 mines and unexploded ordnance were found in the direction of Aghdam and Fuzuli regions as of April 13, 2022. It added that the ministry's 50 mine detection units were involved in clearing the area from mines.
Moreover, the State Border Service cleared some 69 hectares of land defusing 38 mines and unexploded ordnance in April. In general, 775 hectares of land were cleared and 3,102 munitions were neutralized from November 10, 2020, to April 13, 2022, by the State Border Service.
Furthermore, the participants highlighted the importance of ANAMA's "Training of Trainers" for carrying out quality control in the cleared areas in line with certain methodology and standards.
ANAMA provided information on the study of minefields with the use of RAMS (Remote Aerial Minefield Survey) technology. It was noted that 18,000 hectares of land in Zangilan, Fuzuli, Jabrayil, Tartar and Gubadli regions were analyzed last year through artificial intelligence.
Artificial intelligence software is capable of updating the memory of new objects found in the area. Additionally, depending on the degree of pollution in the area, the artificial intelligence software allows for the use of several cleaning methodologies.
The participants also stressed the importance of awareness-raising activities on the dangers of landmines and other explosive remnants of war, as well as encouraging civilians to be cautious and responsible in this regard.
The representatives of relevant government agencies also exchanged views on other issues relevant to the activities of the Working Group and analyzed ways to jointly address issues.
Meanwhile, under the auspices ANAMA, RPS Energy is conducting non-technical research with drones in Azerbaijan’s liberated lands, UK Operations and Special Projects Manager at RPS Energy – Explosives Engineering Services Dave Houghton told local media.
He mentioned that artificial intelligence is used to process the data collected throughout the study. It would take a person one day to do this task, while artificial intelligence would only need 90 minutes.
"Analysis of data per one square meter of land takes one second," the project manager added.
It should be noted that the Coordination Headquarters was established under the presidential order on November 24, 2020, to settle the problems in the liberated lands in a centralized manner and is led by the Head of the Presidential Administration Samir Nuriyev.
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.
Previously, 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.
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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