Azerbaijan continues clearing the landmines in and around the Nagorno-Karabakh a year after regaining control over the region in the war with Armenia.
Some 338 anti-personnel mines, 154 anti-tank mines and 1,389 unexploded ordnance were found in the liberated lands in October 2021, the Azerbaijan National Agency for Mine Action (ANAMA) reported in its monthly report. The area of cleared area in October was 408 ha, the agency said.
Azerbaijan defused over 10,200 anti-personnel mines, 4,329 anti-tank mines and 12,436 unexploded ordnance in its formerly occupied territories since winning the war and signing the peace agreement with Armenia in November 2020.
It is believed that it will take five to six years to clear unexploded ordinance and 10 to 13 years to clear the mines.
Azerbaijan has repeatedly called on Armenia to provide maps for over 100,000 land mines planted in its formerly-occupied territories. Over 150 civilians and servicemen have been killed or injured by landmines after Azerbaijan regained control over the region since November 2020.
President Ilham Aliyev said in August that “Armenia won’t give us maps of minefields, and the accuracy of the maps provided at the latest stage is only 25 percent.”
