A mine explosion in Azerbaijan’s liberated Kalbajar region killed two journalists and a local official on June 4, a week after 6 Armenian armed forces were detained while planting mines in the region.
The explosion occurred in Kalbajar’s Susuzlug village on the border at 11 AM. Azertag news agency’s correspondent Maharram Ibrahimov and AZTV channel’s cameraman Siraj Abishov died when the crew vehicle carrying them exploded on an anti-tank mine explosion. Both journalists were on duty during the incident. A representative of the Kalbajar executive authorities Arif Aliyev also lost his life during the explosion. Four other civilians were hospitalized with various injures.
Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry issued a statement after the incident, condemning Armenia for deliberately planting mines in the Azerbaijan territories, thereby aggravating the situation in the region. The ministry said Armenia aims “to do as much damage as possible to Azerbaijan and create additional obstacles for the civilian population returning to their homes.” The ministry suggested that the mines in Kalbajar that caused the incident had been planted by Armenia during the recent forced withdrawal of the Armed Forces of Azerbaijan after the counter-offensive operations.
The Azerbaijani army pushed back around 40 Armenian armed forces after their entering 400 meters in the Azerbaijani territory near Kalbajar on June 2. Earlier on May 27, Azerbaijan detained six Armenian saboteurs who sought to infiltrate into Azerbaijan and plant mines near Kalbajar. Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry had warned Armenia to “refrain from actions aimed at increasing tensions on the border between the two countries and respect the neighboring state’s border”.
Twenty-two Azerbaijani citizens, including 16 civilians, have been killed and 87 injured in mine explosions in Azerbaijan’s liberated lands since the end of war in November 2020. Armenia has refused to provide maps of thousands of mines it planted in the Azerbaijani territories it occupied for around 30 days. Azerbaijan has filed a complaint to the ECHR and complained to international organizations over Armenia’s refusal to provide Azerbaijan maps of the mines.
Human Rights Commissioner Sabina Aliyeva said today that the lack of any international pressure on Armenia over mine maps causes the killing of Azerbaijani civilians every day.
