Azerbaijan called on the international community to adopt a decisive stance on Armenia’s refusal to provide maps of landmines buried in areas illegally occupied for over three decades and support the demining process, as it poses a threat to the lives of civilians living in the region.
Sabina Aliyeva, the commissioner for human rights (Ombudsman) of the Republic of Azerbaijan, said the international community has been ignoring the threats posed by landmines planted by Armenia.
“Unfortunately, the international community has not expressed concern about the landmine threat created by Armenia against Azerbaijan until today and has not shown any interest in taking effective measures in this regard,” Aliyeva said, as she called on the global community to take action and support demining of the region.
Aliyeva issued the message on the occasion of April 4, the International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action.
Noting that Armenia massively contaminated cities and districts in Karabakh and East Zangezur by planting landmines, Aliyeva said Yerevan also continues to contaminate liberated areas with mines through sabotage groups.
Since 1991, 3,368 people, including 357 children were killed or injured by landmines in Azerbaijan.
Recently on Sunday, an Azerbaijani soldier was killed by an Armenian mine in the Tartar district.
In line with an agreement, Armenia earlier handed over maps of 92,000 mines in the regions of Fuzuli and Zengilan and 97,000 others in the city of Agdam.
The Armenian government then gave Azerbaijan maps of all planted mines in exchange for the latter agreeing to release some of the former's soldiers. The Azerbaijani side, however, claims that the maps are only 25% accurate.
The Azerbaijan Mine Clearance Agency (ANAMA) has been conducting an operation using cutting-edge equipment to locate and defuse explosives that are endangering the lives of innocent people as well as army units deployed in Karabakh and neighboring territories.
But completely clearing mines that have been planted by Armenia on occupied Azerbaijani territories will take nearly 30 years and cost $25 billion, Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev said.
