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Nazrin Abdul

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As part of their visit to Azerbaijan’s liberated territories, a group of renowned international travelers arrived in the Jabrayil district today, Azernews reports.

The travelers toured the village of Mehdili, where they observed ongoing demining operations conducted by the Azerbaijan National Agency for Mine Action (ANAMA). They were informed about the extensive mine contamination of the area during the Armenian occupation and briefed on the casualties and injuries caused by mines since the region’s liberation. Officials noted the presence of anti-tank and anti-personnel mines, mixed minefields, and unexploded ordnance scattered throughout the region. Most of the anti-personnel mines discovered were identified as being of Armenian origin.

The guests learned that demining is carried out using three methods: mechanical equipment, manual clearing, and trained detection dogs.

Qadir Namazaliyev, operations manager of ANAMA’s 3rd clearance team, stated that the Mehdili/006/05 minefield has been under clearance for 92 working days, covering an area of 83,511 square meters. To date, 82.4% of the site—approximately 56,500 square meters—has been cleared, and 875 mines and one improvised explosive device have been detected and neutralized. Among these, 720 were Armenian-made anti-personnel mines and 155 were Russian-made anti-tank mines. He emphasized the high level of metal contamination in the soil, which complicates mine detection with metal detectors, requiring manual excavation and marking of mines. In less contaminated areas, mechanical methods and mine detection dogs are employed.

The travelers later witnessed a live controlled detonation of mines recovered during the operation.

This visit was organized by the international travel community NomadMania and includes elite explorers from 30 countries, including the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Brazil, Morocco, India, Australia, and others. Over the next three days, they will explore the Garabagh and Eastern Zangezur regions, observing the extensive reconstruction and demining efforts, as well as the destruction caused during the occupation.

This initiative plays a key role in promoting the liberated territories under the concept of "black tourism"—a form of travel focused on post-conflict zones.

Since the end of the 2020 Second Garabagh War, 13 delegations from major international travel networks such as ETIC, MTP, TCC, and NomadMania, along with prominent travel clubs from Turkiye, Sweden, the UK, Norway, and others, have visited the region. This latest visit marks the 13th such expedition.