Tractor hits anti-tank mine in liberated Aghdam

By Azernews

By Ayya Lmahamad

A tractor driven by a resident of Azerbaijan's Oguz region, Ahmad Idrisov, hit an anti-tank mine at about 1300 (GMT +4) on December 16, Trend has reported.

The Interior Ministry reported that Idrisov is an employee of one of the companies engaged in road construction around the Kharchinchay Reiver in Aghdam's Bash Garvend village.

“Fortunately, no one was hurt. The investigation is being carried out in the Aghdam region prosecutor's office,” the ministry stated.

Meanwhile, Trend reported that Mine Action Agency continues demining the section of the Horadiz-Aghband highway passing through Jabrayil region, which is part of the Zangazur corridor project.

The agency has been demining since August 31 the territories that the Horadiz-Agbgband highway passes through. It is envisaged to clear a 14-km section of the road.

"Six kilometers of the track on an area of ??190 hectares is completely cleared of mines and unexploded ordnance. In this area, 752 mines and unexploded ordnance (396 antipersonnel and 25 anti-tank mines, as well as 331 unexploded ordnance) were found and cleared," the Mine Action Agency reported.

It should be noted that the Defence Ministry began mine clearance operations within this project on June 1, 2021, and an area of ??558 hectares has already been cleared.

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.

Earlier, the Mine Action Agency reported that 10,456 anti-personnel and 4,683 anti-tank mines, as well as 12,659 unexploded ordnances, were found and defused in Tartar, Aghdam, Fuzuli, Shusha, Gubadli, Jabrayil, and Zangilan regions from November 10, 2020, to November 30, 2021. 

On December 9, the Prosecutor-General's Office reported that 29 civilians and seven military servicemen were killed, as well as 109 servicemen and 44 civilians received injuries of varying severity as a result of mine explosions in the country’s lands since November 10, 2020.

Yerevan submitted to Baku all mine maps of Azerbaijan's liberated territories as a result of talks through Russia's mediation on December 4, 2021. The accuracy of the maps is still to be checked.

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.