Armenia applies chemical weapons in Tartar region

/By Azernews/

By Rashid Shirinov

Armenia's use of chemical weapons with regard to the Azerbaijani civilians in the frontline area caused big concerns of Baku.

Azerbaijan's Foreign Ministry and Ministry of Defense organized a trip of military attaches to the Askipara village placed in Tartar district, where Armenian unexploded white phosphorus artillery shell was found on May 10 during an operation by the Azerbaijan National Agency for Mine Action (ANAMA).

The group also included representatives of the German embassy, which holds the presidency in the OSCE this year.

Two houses and four shell craters on private land were inspected, an unexploded artillery shell of 152 mm caliber was discovered and defused in the village of Garagadzhi, ANAMA said.

One crater on the cultivated area was examined and phosphorous artillery shell of caliber of 122 mm was discovered an unexploded in Askipara village.

Phosphorus munition is a type of ammunition fitted with white phosphorus or incendiary substances on the basis of white phosphorus in mixture with other substances. The munition is considered as life-threatening and prohibited by international conventions.

The Agency examined four houses and infields, six pastures, 12 shell craters, discovered and neutralized two unexploded ordnances, viewed the area of 42 884 square meters.

From April 7 to May 10, ANAMA inspected 457 houses and gardens, 12 farms, crop areas, two military units and rural cemeteries, three rural middle schools, one medical center and winery area in Zardab, Tartar, Shamkir, Agjabedi, Agdam, Fuzuli, Tovuz, Goranboy, Samukh, Shamkir, Ujar and Jalilabad districts. 1,419 UXOs, 13 anti-personnel and 6 anti-tank mines were discovered and defused

Currently, special rapid response teams of the Agency using dogs continue their operations in detection of UXO in the border settlements of Azerbaijan.

Azerbaijan and Armenia for over two decades have been locked in conflict, which emerged over Armenian territorial claims. Since the 1990s war, Armenian armed forces have occupied over 20 percent of Azerbaijan's internationally recognized territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent regions. The UN Security Council has adopted four resolutions on Armenian withdrawal, but they have not been enforced to this day.