Azerbaijan continues demining road leading to liberated settlement

By Azernews

By Vafa Ismayilova

An official from the Azerbaijan National Agency for Mine Action (ANAMA) has said that measures to demine the areas aimed for the reconstruction of a road leading to de-occupied Sugovushan settlement in Tartar region are underway.

The chief of the ANAMA operational headquarters, Idris Ismayilov, said that the work to clean the abovementiond area from mines and unexploded shells is carried out through mechhanical machines and with the help of mine  detection dogs.

“To date, 169 mines and unexploded shells have been found and cleared. Eight kilometres of the 10-km road have already been cleaned. The rest of the work will be completed within the next three to four days,” he said.

“In total, as a result of search operations conducted by the agency since September 27, some 750 unexploded shells, about 4,500 antipersonnel mines, and about 2,000 anti-tank mines were found. At present, the operational search work is underway in areas not cleaned from mines and unexploded shells,” Ismayilov added.

The agency’s chief also noted that it’s planned to demine the settlements within 3-5 years and to complete the cleaning of the territories within 10 years. This 10-year period provides for a complete solution to the problems associated with mines, cleaning remote mountainous areas, arable land, and pastures from them. The return of citizens to these territories will be carried out earlier.

On November 10, a trilateral statement signed by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan ended the Nagorno-Karabakh war.

Ninety-four Azerbaijani civilians were killed and hundreds of others injured in Armenia's armed attacks between September 27 - November 10.

The Azerbaijani army liberated several cities and nearly 300 of its settlements and villages as well as some strategic heights from the occupation of Armenian forces during 44 days.

About 20 per cent of Azerbaijan's territory – including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent regions – had been under Armenian occupation for nearly three decades.

Armenia failed to implement four UN Security Council resolutions that urged the immediate and unconditional withdrawal of the invading forces from the occupied territories.

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev hailed the trilateral agreement as a victory for his country and a defeat for Armenia, saying Baku's military success enabled it to gain an upper hand to end the three-decade occupation of its territory.