Mine attack against Azerbaijani general under investigation

By Azernews

By Vugar Khalilov

The Military Prosecutor’s Office has launched criminal proceedings into the case of mine attack against Amy’s Maj-Gen Hikmat Hasanov, the Prosecutor-General’s Office reported on November 16.

The case is under investigation under Azerbaijani Criminal Code Articles 29, 120.2.7 (attempted murder of two or more persons) and 29, 120.2.12 (attempted murder with national, racial, religious hatred or hostility), the report added.

It should be noted that Hasanov was injured in an armored vehicle as a result of the mine explosion during his visit to liberated Aghdam region on November 20, 2020.

Armenia deliberately and constantly laid mines on the Azerbaijani territories, in violation of the 1949 Geneva Convention, thereby being a major threat to regional peace, security and cooperation.

Some 160 Azerbaijanis have been killed or injured in the explosion of mines planted by Armenians in Azerbaijan’s formerly occupied regions since the end of the war in autumn 2020 that saw Azerbaijan liberate most of its territories in and around the Nagorno-Karabakh region.

On June 12, Azerbaijan handed over 15 Armenian prisoners in exchange for a map detailing the location of 97,000 mines in formerly-occupied Aghdam.

On July 3, Armenia submitted to Azerbaijan maps of about 92,000 anti-tank and anti-personnel mines planted during the occupation of Fuzuli and Zangilan regions.

In his interview to CNN Turk channel on August 14, President Ilham Aliyev said that the accuracy of the maps provided by Armenia at the latest stage is only 25 percent.

Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a Russia-brokered peace agreement on November 10, 2020, to end 44 days of fighting and work toward a comprehensive resolution.