About 1,500 mines and unexploded ordnance were found and defused
on Azerbaijan's liberated territories on April 1-30, Azerbaijan’s
Mine Action Agency has reported on its official Twitter page.
The agency found and defused 341 anti-personnel, 482 anti-tank
mines and 673 unexploded munitions in Tartar, Aghdam, Fuzuli,
Shusha, Gubadli, Jabrayil and Zangilan regions during the reported
period.
Overall, 1,701.5 hectares were cleared of mines and unexploded
ordnance in this period.
Furthermore, the agency neutralized 11,009 anti-personnel, 5,444
anti-tank mines and 15,020 unexploded ordnances from November 10,
2020, to April 30, 2022, the report added.
Some 9,568.1 hectares were cleared of munitions in the said
period.
Armenia submitted to Azerbaijan all mine maps of liberated
territories as a result of talks held through the Russian Defence
Ministry's mediation on December 4, 2021.
On April 1, at a conference on "Humanitarian mine action and
sustainable development goals (SDGs)" jointly organized by the
ANAMA and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in Baku,
Azerbaijani presidential aide Hikmat Hajiyev described as accurate
only 25 percent of minefield maps provided by Armenia.
"They planted mines instead of trees in our territories. Both
soldiers and civilians were killed and injured in the blasts.
Unfortunately, only 25 percent of the mine maps provided by Armenia
were useful," Hajiyev stressed.
On March 2, Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov stated that the low
accuracy of Armenia's minefield maps of Azerbaijani liberated
territories slows the mine-clearance process.
"The demining operations are underway, but people are still
losing their lives. From the end of the 44-day Second Karabakh War
to the present, over 200 people have become victims of mine
explosions in liberated lands," Bayramov said.
He added that the high mine contamination of the liberated
territories hinders the return of former internally displaced
persons to their native lands.
It should be noted that ANAMA, along with the partner countries,
carries out demining activities on its liberated territories.
Moreover, the State Border Service and the Defence Ministry units
also demine the liberated lands.
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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