Azerbaijan defuses over 700 mines & munitions in de-occupied Karabakh within a week

By Azernews

By Sabina Mammadli

Some 706 mines and unexploded ordnances have been defused in the liberated territories from November 7 through November 12, Azernews reports, citing the Azerbaijani National Agency for Mine Action (ANAMA).

During the demining operations, 170 anti-personnel and 179 anti-tank mines, as well as 357 unexploded ordnances, were detected and neutralized in Tartar, Aghdam, Khojavand, Fuzuli, Shusha, Gubadli, Jabrayil, and Zangilan districts.

Over 485 ha area was cleared of mines and unexploded ordnances during the reporting period.

Armenia planted land mines in Azerbaijani territory, not only during the 30-year-long occupation but also just days before abandoning the Azerbaijani lands, as envisaged in the trilateral declaration, to cause human casualties.

Civilians and military personnel are frequently maimed or killed as a result of mine explosions in Azerbaijan's liberated regions.

The latest mine blasts in Tartar and Lachin districts on October 21-23 seriously wounded three Azerbaijani citizens, one of whom subsequently died in hospital. The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry reported that the number of victims had reached 262 as a result of Armenian-planted mine explosions in 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.