(MENAFN- AzerNews)
Fatima Latifova
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Between October 14-20, a total of 49 anti-tank mines, 200
anti-personnel mines, and 763 unexploded ordnances (UXOs) were
discovered and neutralized in the liberated territories of
Azerbaijan, Azernews reports, citing the weekly
update by the Azerbaijan Mine Action Agency (ANAMA) on humanitarian
demining operations in these areas.
During the week, 470.2 hectares of land were cleared of
mines.
The demining efforts are being carried out by ANAMA, the
Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of Emergency Situations (MES),
the State Border Service (SBS), and four private companies across
various regions, including Tartar, Aghdara, Kalbajar, Aghdam,
Khojaly, Khankendi, Shusha, Khojavand, Lachin, Fuzuli, Jabrayil,
Gubadli, and Zangilan.
Note that despite attempts at formally requesting information
about the location of those mines, Armenia repeatedly denied that
it possessed the relevant information and refused to engage on the
issue.
Finally, in February this year, Armenia has submitted 8
minefield maps of territories located in the liberated lands to
Azerbaijan. These maps cover some of the areas along the former
contact line. However, the maps covering part of the former contact
line passing through Khojavand, Tartar, and Goranboy districts, as
well as the areas mined by Armenian military units when they
retreated in November 2020, has not been submitted yet.
Many have suspicions about these maps because previous minefield
maps submitted by Armenia were inaccurate. Only 25 percent of these
maps were correct. Especially submitting minefield maps of the
height where civilians do not live increases this suspicion. It is
also worth noting that more than 55% of recent landmine cases have
occurred outside the areas covered by the information provided.
The behavior that Armenia displayed by relation to the landmine
threat is indeed another setback to the peace and
confidence-building measures taken during the post-conflict period
in the region.
It is worth noting that because of Azerbaijan's liberated
territories remain contaminated with mine, the new infrastructure
and green energy projects remains a risky and problematic goal.
These obstacles to a legal peace are part of the challenges facing
the repopulation, development and integration of the liberated
territories on the path to a full peace.
The Azerbaijan National Agency for Mine Action, known as ANAMA,
has grown from a fledgling organization to one fully equipped to
clear mines, provide risk education and assist survivors of
accidents. Today ANAMA's efforts are aimed to continue increasing
and expansion of mine action capacity to provide the clearance of
all liberated areas of Azerbaijan.
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