Azernews.Az

By Vafa Ismayilova

Some 136 members of special groups for reconnaissance and mine clearance of the Turkish Land Forces have been sent to Azerbaijan to help defusing mines in the newly-liberated territories, the Turkish Defence Ministry has reported.

Operation is underway to de-mine the Azerbaijani territories liberated from the Armenian occupation in the 44-day war that lasted from September 27 to November 10, 2020. The sappers will help defuse mines placed by Armenian troops in the previously occupied Azerbaijani territories.

Meanwhile, the Azerbaijani Defence Ministry reported on January 9 that Defence Minister Zakir Hasanov and the ministry leadership checked the status of supply and level of combat training of the Azerbaijan Army Units stationed on the liberated territories. The minister inquired about the conditions created for servicemen and gave relevant instructions to officials. At the end, the leadership of the ministry had lunch with the servicemen and spoke about topics of interest to them.

The first group of Turkish sappers arrived in early December. The Turkish soldiers themselves are also involved in clearing Azerbaijan’s newly-liberated territories.

On December 22, 2020, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry said that 6 civilians and 6 military servicemen were killed and 7 civilians and 14 military servicemen were injured in landmine blasts after the war ended on November 10.

A Moscow-brokered ceasefire deal that Baku and Yerevan signed on November 10 brought an end to six weeks of fighting between Armenia and Azerbaijan. The Azerbaijani army declared a victory against the Armenian troops. The signed agreement obliged Armenia to withdraw its troops from the Azerbaijani lands that it has occupied since the early 1990s.

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