Some 1.5 million mines laid in Azerbaijani lands during occupation period

About 1.5 million mines were laid in the territories of Azerbaijan liberated from occupation, and about 9,000 square kilometres of territory were contaminated with mines.

Vugar Suleymanov, Chairman of the Board of the Azerbaijani  Mine Action Agency (ANAMA), made the remarks at the international technical conference on "Mine action: innovations and best practices", APA reports.

He noted that a total of 111,207 hectares of territory have been cleared of mines and unexploded ordnance as a result of demining operations conducted from November 2020 to date.

A total of 109,552 mines and other unexploded ordnance have been found and cleared, including 30,753 anti-personnel mines, 18,531 anti-tank mines and 60,268 unexploded ordnance.

Addressing the event, the Head of the Cabinet of Ministers, Rufat Mammadov said that 80 per cent of mines still remain in the liberated territories.

He added that the number of ANAMA staff would be increased from next year.

“Our goal is to clear the territories of mines in the near future. The Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of Emergency Situations, the State Border Service and private companies are also involved in demining the territories,” Mammadov stressed.