picture
picture
picture
picture
picturepicture
picture
picture
picture

Vugar SULEYMANOV, Mine Action Agency of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Chairman of the Board

Over the past few years, ANAMA and other organizations have cleared more than 83,236 hectares of landmines and explosive remnants of war. In 2023, this process will cover an area of 50,000 hectares.

According to international research and analysis, Azerbaijan ranks among countries with a high-level contamination with mines. During the occupation by Armenian armed forces for nearly 30 years, more than 900 settlements in Karabakh were completely ravaged, razed to the ground and mined by the insidious enemy!

In order to eliminate the serious consequences of the lethal weapons after the Patriotic War, ANAMA has been carrying out demining operations in the territories liberated from occupation and affected by the war.

I can say with full confidence that the creation of safe conditions for the restoration and reconstruction of the mentioned areas and the return of people to their native homes have been one of the highest priorities of the Azerbaijani state since the end of the conflict.

Founded in 1998, ANAMA was reorganized with the aim of pursuing more pressing strategic goals and fulfilling important tasks after the victory of Azerbaijan’s glorious army under the leadership of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief in the Patriotic War, President Ilham Aliyev, and received the status of a public legal entity. At present, ANAMA is engaged in clearing the war-affected liberated territories from mines, unexploded ordnance, devices containing explosives and other lethal remnants of the war, neutralizing them, as well as coordinating activities in this area.

As part of the “Great Return” to Karabakh program, which is defined as one of the main strategic goals of the “Azerbaijan 2030: National Priorities for Socioeconomic Development” document, a large-scale demining campaign meeting international standards is currently underway in liberated territories. This direction is identified as Azerbaijan’s top priority in the post-conflict period.

It might be of interest to talk about some of the intermediate results of the demining operation. The fact of the matter is that more than 88,905 mines and other explosive remnants of the war have been found and neutralized in the liberated territories in the post-war period.

Mine action issues are both directly and indirectly interlinked with sustainable development goals.

It is beyond doubt that President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev always attaches special importance to this issue, as it is directly related to the safety of human life. The President regularly notes in his speeches that mine contamination of liberated territories slows down the process of reconstruction and return of the former IDPs to their native lands.

On March 2, 2023, in his speech at the Baku summit of the contact group of the Non-Aligned Movement on response to COVID-19, taking into account the fact that many of the Non-Aligned Movement member countries are among those contaminated by landmines and unexploded ordnance, President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev put forward a proposal to establish a group of like-minded countries affected by mines in order to increase international attention to the landmine problem. Shortly afterwards, ANAMA established partnership relations with the international community and civil society institutions on the national level in order to meet the goals associated with this important and humane initiative, and mobilized the opportunities available to it.

Demining operations are mainly carried out on the transport infrastructure, in the energy sector, agriculture, industrial parks, residential infrastructure, etc. This includes manual demining, use of special purpose mechanical vehicles, and demining operations carried out with the aid of animals

The Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Azerbaijan, the Ministry of Emergency Situations, relevant units of the State Border Service, as well as local companies, are involved in demining operations in Karabakh together with ANAMA. International demining organizations such as MAG, Safe Lane and RPS, the world’s leading demining organizations, also operate in the territories liberated from occupation.

One of the reasons behind the rapid pace of the work is that ANAMA deploys cutting-edge equipment and mechanical facilities in demining operations. In addition, the Agency’s personnel is gradually increased and the material and technical resources available to it are regularly expanded. These are important conditions for achieving good results. Newly recruited de-miners are involved in both theoretical and hands-on trainings such as “Humanitarian Demining Course”, “Battle Area Clearance”, “First medical aid” and others. Professional development trainings for operational personnel, such as “Section Leader and Group Leader Training”, “Supervisor training”, etc. are also available. Trainings for representatives of the Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Azerbaijan, the Internal Troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan, the

Ministry of Emergency Situations, as well as local companies and non-governmental organizations involved in demining operations, are now part of the Agency’s action plans and programs.

Also, the “Remote Aerial minefield survey” (RAMS) system is being used, showing effective results and using drones and artificial intelligence. In accordance with International Mine Action Standards (IMAS), RAMS supports a more optimal and accurate performance of nontechnical surveys operations. The high-precision, as well as thermal and multispectral cameras used with the aid of drones have the ability to study objects on the ground surface and those buried at shallow depths. After the obtained data is sorted by means of artificial intelligence, the location of dangerous objects and boundaries of dangerous areas are determined.

As a result of continuous non-technical and technical research operations carried out by the Agency in the territories liberated from occupation, it was determined that lands, including destroyed settlements, agricultural fields, cemeteries, gardens and other areas of socioeconomic importance, are highly contaminated with mines. According to preliminary data, 158,873 hectares of liberated territories have a high and 732,567 hectares have medium and low levels of contamination. Over the past years, ANAMA and other organizations have cleared more than 83,236 hectares of land from mines and explosive remnants of war. In 2023, this number will reach 50,000 hectares. ANAMA considers quality principles based on international standards as the main goal of demining operations.

The territory of large cities, residential areas, as well as social infrastructure facilities, are being cleared now. The former line of contact and adjacent territories are considered to be the worst contaminated areas. Civilian areas outside the so-called former line of contact are also heavily mined. Unfortunately, 142 of Azerbaijani citizens were killed or received injuries of varying degree of severity as a result of explosions in these areas. Landmines are mainly found on river banks, canals, roads, agricultural fields, forests, trenches, gardens, backyards and cemeteries.

In the villages of Zabukh and Sus of Lachin region (in the south-west of the Republic of Azerbaijan), booby traps planted by the enemy were discovered during demining operations. Facts of placement of hand grenades under Armenian PMN-Э mines, activated by trap wire and installed at the entrance to houses and courtyards, were found as well. We have come across a great number of inhumane and treacherous actions by the enemy, when several explosive devices were planted in order to increase the scale of the tragedy and kill more people.

Improvised explosive devices with high explosive power were also discovered during demining operations in the liberated areas of Aghdam region (in the northeastern foothills of the Karabakh mountain range, in the west of the Kura-Araz plain). Instances of compact placement of 240 mm 9M24F turbo jet rockets and more than thirty 120 mm mortar shells were discovered in mounds located on the side of the road and covered with soil. Yes, these menacing 120 mm mortar shells containing 3-4 kg of explosives were intended to vehicles and a high number of people!

All these facts are evidence of Armenia’s destructive intent against peace and security in the region and the environment. In the Tartar, Khachin, Gargar and Hekari rivers passing through the liberated territories, as well as ancient kehrizes, many explosive ammunitions were found and defused by de-miners.

In the post-war period, a number of Azerbaijani citizens lost their lives to landmines planted in civilian areas. As a result of an incident in Yusifjanli village cemetery of Aghdam region, five members of a family were killed or seriously injured. A similar incident also occurred in Suarasi village cemetery of Lachin region. Let me note that mine incidents in Gulabird village of Lachin region, Dashalti village of Shusha region (in the Karabakh range of the Lesser Caucasus), Nuzgar and Mehdili villages of Jabrayil region (located in the heart of the Lesser Caucasus mountains in the south of the Republic of Azerbaijan), Bartaz village of Zangilan region, Signag village of Khojaly region (located in the Karabakh range), Khanlig village of Gubadli (in the south-west of the Republic of Azerbaijan and south-east of the Karabakh plateau), Marzili and Shahbulag villages of Tartar region (in the northeastern foothills of the Lesser Caucasus and the Karabakh plain), Yukhari Veysalli and Yaghlivand villages of Fuzuli region were outside what used to be called the line of contact.

One of the main components of ANAMA’s largescale and multifaceted fight against the mine threat is Explosive Ordnance Risk Education (EORE) measures.

Within the framework of awareness-raising activities, ANAMA works with the population to increase awareness of safe behavior, the danger of mines and explosive remnants of war. In order to achieve tangible results in the field of awareness-raising, cooperation has been established with both state and international organizations. UNDP, UNICEF, UNHCR are among ANAMA’s main partners in the fight against mine threats. In addition to a number of commercial institutions, the International Eurasian Press Fund, the “Dayag” non-governmental organizations are also involved in the fight against the mine threat. I am pleased to inform you that the European Union, the United Kingdom, the United States of America, Japan, and Hungary have provided extensive support for the anti-mine threat measures carried out in Azerbaijan.

Unfortunately, the hidden seeds of death continue to take lives and harm people’s health. According to statistics, the number of mine victims in 30 years has reached 3,383 people, including 358 are children and 38 women. Between the signing of the trilateral and 12 June 2023, a total of 304 people fell victim to mines and other explosive devices. Of them, 57 people were killed and 247 injured.

In general, most of the mines found in the liberated areas are Armenian-made PMN-Э and OZM-72 mines. During the clearing operation, a large number of cluster munitions prohibited by the international convention were discovered and neutralized. These are LAR160, 9N235 and other cartridge ammunitions.

Let me conclude by saying that the state of Azerbaijan is fighting this acute and complex problem using its internal resources. Some countries and international organizations do provide support in combating the threat of mines, but this support is not sufficient given the scale of the problem in the liberated territories. We hope that this global problem can be dealt with more effectively through joint effort at the global level.