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Qabil Ashirov

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Even though April 4 is marked as the International Day of Mine Awareness and Assistance for Mine Action in the world, as a result of Armenia's insidious policy, Azerbaijan still remains globally among the most polluted countries with mines and unexploded ordnance. Thus, following Armenia's aggressive policy against Azerbaijan in the 1980s and 1990s, more than 1.5 million landmines have been buried in Azerbaijan's formerly occupied territories, according to preliminary estimates.

It is worth noting that, unfortunately, Armenia's use of mine terrorism against Azerbaijan was not limited to the 1990s. It continued to use this heinous policy even after the Second Garabagh War. Since the end of the Second Garabagh War, 350 Azerbaijani citizens have been victims of landmines; 65 of them died and 285 were seriously injured.

In general, since the beginning of the military aggression of Armenia against Azerbaijan, about 3429 Azerbaijani citizens have been injured by landmines; 595 of them have lost their lives; and according to the report, 357 of the victims were children, and 38 were women.

The founding of thousands of Armenian-made anti-personnel mines in Garabagh and border areas in fabricated 2021 proves that even after the end of the Garabagh conflict, Armenia planted land mines in Azerbaijani territories using the Lachin-Khankendi road.

In a comment to Azernews on the issue, Neil Watson, the British journalist and expert on energy issues, said that there is no doubt that landmines left over from the first and second Garabagh wars and then planted after the ceasefire in 2020 are the most major issue impacting construction and reconstruction of the liberated territories. He noted that landmines are completely indiscriminate and kill men, women, children, and elderly people.

"They remain in the ground for decades after the conflict finishes and become more unstable over time. There are an estimated 1.5 million landmines in the liberated territories, all of Soviet or Russian design but of Armenian manufacture. Recently, there was an event in the British Parliament hosted by one of the All Party Parliamentary Groups on Explosive Devices.

An ANAMA spokesman explained the various types of mines, the problems that they represent, and that Armenia has released very few mine maps, which have questionable accuracy. There were then presentations from British partners involved in mine identification and clearance, including those using African pouched brown rats and dogs to find landmines. We also heard how women are being trained in Azerbaijan to find and defuse mines. I have been to Aghdam and Shusha, where no clearance or reconstruction can take place until mines are cleared, and it’s important for Armenia to help Azerbaijan locate the mines and the international community to assist," he noted.

The Biritish expert mentioned that over 90 percent of demining activities are carried out at the expense of Azerbaijan's internal resources. Although there is cooperation with some foreign partners, overall external support is limited. Watson also emphasised that the issue is delaying the return of the IDPs, which impacts the economy of the region.

"The landmine issue is delaying the return of the IDPs. No reconstruction can take place until the land is cleared and made safe. It is impossible to reconstruct and shape new cities until all landmines have been removed from the liberated territories. Given the scale of the problem, this could take two decades and it impacts the development of the economy of the region," the expert concluded.

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Qabil Ashirov is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @g_Ashirov

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