Azerbaijani army sapper units defuse another batch of Armenian-planted mines in Kalbajar

By Azernews

By Vugar Khalilov

The Azerbaijani army’s engineer-sapper units have defused another batch of Armenian-planted mines in Kalbajar District, Azernews reports, citing the ministry.

As a result of demining activities, the sappers detected and defused some 259 PMN-E anti-personnel mines, planted by the Armenian sabotage groups during a large-scale border provocation in Kalbajar’s Alagollar area, the ministry said.

By September 28, Kalbajar Alagollar area had been cleared of 543 PMN-E anti-personnel, as well as 8 TM-62 anti-tank mines, it added.

The mines discovered by the Azerbaijani army engineer-sapper units were defused in line with safety rules. The sapper units continue demining the territories and supply roads mined by Armenian sabotage groups during a large-scale border provocation.

On September 19, some 100 E-001 M type anti-personnel mines, made in Armenia in 2021, were discovered in the ravine gap of the northeastern section of the Boyuk Ishigli Mount.

To recap, units of the Armenian armed forces carried out large-scale provocations along the Azerbaijani-Armenian state border in the Dashkasan, Kalbajar, and Lachin directions on the night of September 12 leading to 13. The Armenian sabotage groups mined land and supply roads linking the positions of the Azerbaijani army units in different directions, taking advantage of the area's steep topography and existing ravine gaps.

The clashes between the sides ensued as a result of the urgent efforts made by the Azerbaijani armed forces to quell these activities. As a result, 79 armed forces personnel were killed, the ministry detailed.

The Azerbaijani military units stationed in these areas took decisive retaliatory measures to suppress the provocations of the Armenian armed forces and military threats to Azerbaijan's territory and sovereignty, as well as to ensure the safety of military personnel, including civilian workers involved in infrastructure construction in Kalbajar and Lachin districts, the ministry emphasized.

So far, the Armenian government reported 135 losses among its own military personnel.