Azernews.Az

By Vugar Khalilov

The Azerbaijani army's engineer-sapper units have defused 233 mines and munitions since early 2022, the Defence Ministry reported on March 10.

Over 955 hectares of land have been cleared of mines and unexploded ordnance as a result of demining activities.

In total, engineering-sapper units cleared 14,448 hectares of land in liberated areas. They discovered and destroyed 6,092 anti-personnel, 2,159 anti-tank, and 9,237 unexploded ordnances of various types.

Mine and unexploded ordnance detection and decontamination, as well as other necessary engineering measures, are underway on the liberated territories.

Demining towns, agricultural plots, roads, and other infrastructure are the focus of the majority of efforts in liberated areas.

Engineering-sapper units are clearing mines and snow from the roads, and new supply roads are being built to ensure the safe movement of vehicles to Azerbaijani army positions in mountainous and difficult-to-access areas.

As a result of talks mediated by the Russian Defence Ministry on December 4, 2021, Armenia handed over all mine maps for liberated territories to Azerbaijan.

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 Azerbaijan's Mine Action Agency, along with the partner countries, carries out demining activities on its liberated territories. Moreover, the State Border Service and the Defence Ministry 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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