Azerbaijan talks danger of mines in liberated Kalbajar
By Trend
An Anti-tank mine was found on the road near which residential buildings are located in Azerbaijani Kalbajar district’s Gunashli village, Trend reports.
This happened on April 16 during a visit by a group of 20 people, including residents of Kalbajar, representatives of government departments and agencies, and personnel of Azerbaijan’s Ictimai Television (ITV) to Gunashli village.
The anti-tank mine on the route of the bus with members of the delegation was found by a sapper soldier Mardali Ashurov.
According to preliminary data, the mine was planted between November 10 and 25, 2020, when the Armenian side requested additional time to withdraw its troops and residents from the Kalbajar district [following the second Karabakh war].
Sanan Huseynov, head of the department at the State Committee for Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons, commenting on the incident said that on April 8, in connection with the 30th anniversary of the Aghdaban tragedy, there was organized a visit by members of the families of this tragedy’s martyrs to Aghdaban village, and on April 16, a visit of families of martyrs of the tragedy in the tunnel in this area.
According to Huseynov, the participants of the trip to Kalbajar were divided into two groups.
"One group went to the village of Bashlibel, and the other - to Gunashli village. Later they visited the cemetery,” he said. “On the way back, when the participants of the trip, among whom was Afsar Mirzayev, whose father and sister died during the massacre in the tunnel, and whose niece was taken prisoner, intended to visit their native places where their houses were located, an anti-tank mine was found on the road, thus averting a tragedy.”
“Armenia continues the mine war against the Azerbaijani people. The Armenians, having committed countless acts of vandalism and crimes against humanity during the 30-year occupation, mined the village during the exit from Kalbajar district, to create obstacles for the return of the civilian population to their lands," Huseynov noted.
Speaking about this trip, a martyr’s relative Rza Guliyev said that the mining of settlements is an example of Armenian vandalism.
"On the way back, the sappers who accompanied us in Gunashli village found an anti-tank mine on the road. As a result of their vigilance, the tragedy was avoided. Leaving Kalbajar, the Armenians mined settlements, which in itself testifies to their vicious intentions and goals," added Guliyev.
To date, more than 15,000 hectares of liberated territories have been cleared of mines by engineering and sapper units of the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry. In total, 6,095 anti-personnel and 2,172 anti-tank mines and 9,368 unexploded ordnances were found and destroyed.
Units of Azerbaijan’s National Agency for Mine Action have cleared 8,612 hectares of territory and neutralized 14,757 unexploded ordnances, 10,838 anti-personnel mines, and 5,183 anti-tank mines.
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