Armenia's mine terror stumbling block on the way to Karabakh's revival Casualties keep growing

Three Azerbaijani civilians have been killed, adding to the tragic death toll of Armenia's reign of terror. As previously reported, Sahavat Gozalov, Nadir Yusifov, and Farid Sadiyev, employees of RPS Energy Ltd. died as a result of an explosion of an anti-tank mine in the direction of Tapgaragoyunlu village of Azerbaijan's Tartar district.

In total, since the signing of the Trilateral Statement of November 10, 2020, on the cessation of hostilities to date, 298 people have been injured as a result of mines planted by the Armenian armed forces, including soldiers and civilians, of whom 54 were killed and 244 were injured to varying degrees of severity. Two of our colleagues, Azerbaijani television cameraman Siraj Abbasov and Azertag correspondent Maharram Ibrahimov, were killed in the explosion of an anti-tank mine in Susuzlug village of the Kalbajar region, where they were heading to make a report.

All these facts indicate that Armenia continues to wage war against Azerbaijan even in the post-conflict period, using the tactics of deliberate mine terror, while traditionally ignoring the laws of international law. And this method of warfare by Armenia is aimed not only at killing Azerbaijani citizens but is also the main obstacle to the reconstruction of the liberated territories and the return of internally displaced persons to their homes.

The rapid development and revival of Karabakh (which was destroyed and plundered by Armenian barbarians during the thirty-year occupation) is bur in the throat of our bitter neighbours, depriving them of rest and balance. Therefore, it is not surprising that so far Armenia has not handed over all the maps of minefields to us, and is ignoring this demand of Azerbaijan in every possible way. As a result, not only the statistics but also the frequency of tragic mine terror events is increasing.

So, just last week (on April 22), an Azerbaijani army truck carrying supplies to our positions on the heights near the village of Allahgulular detonated itself on a mine laid by Armenians. During search operations carried out by the engineering units of the Azerbaijani Army, several anti-tank mines and a large number of anti-personnel mines manufactured in Armenia in 2021 were found in this area.

So, in fact, this shows that the Azerbaijani people are suffering the outcome of the Armenian occupation despite the fact that the Patriotic War ended more than two years ago. Who else but Azerbaijan knows that aggression and terror have always been and remain part of Armenian policy? It is therefore not surprising that even after its shameful defeat in the war Armenia continues to fight with Azerbaijan, choosing such undignified methods of struggle.

It is indicative that the Armenians mined Azerbaijani lands not only during the occupation, building the so-called "defence line", but also hastily buried mines after the war, leaving the districts of Aghdam, Kalbajar, and Lachin as a surrendered party, taking advantage of the time given them by Azerbaijan.

President Ilham Aliyev always talks about the big mine problem Azerbaijan faces, stressing that huge financial resources are allocated in the state budget for demining operations in the liberated territories in Karabakh. So, in 2021, Azerbaijan allocated more than 100 million manats for this purpose, of which about 98 million manats have been spent. A total of 48.9 million manats from the Reserve Fund of the President of Azerbaijan was allocated in 2021 for the restoration of Azerbaijani cities, destroyed as a result of years of occupation by the Armenian armed forces.

Between November 2021 and March 2022, 10,600 anti-personnel and 4,685 anti-tank mines and 14,045 pieces of unexploded ordnance were discovered and deactivated by the Azerbaijani Mine Action Agency alone. At the same time in 2022, Azerbaijani deminers have cleared 12,913 mines, as a result of which 41,915 hectares of land have been cleared.

Meanwhile, land demining is a complex process, especially in the absence of accurate maps of minefields. In this regard, speaking at the plenary session of the sixth summit of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia in October 2022, President Ilham Aliyev stated that Azerbaijan is among the most mine-contaminated countries in the world.

"According to preliminary estimates, Armenia has planted more than one million mines in the territory of Azerbaijan during its occupation. According to the estimates of international experts, Azerbaijan needs about 30 years and $25 billion to solve the issue of de-mining of territories," said Aliyev.

So far people have been killed as a result of Armenian mine terror. But the government is working fundamentally to ensure the safe movement of its citizens in the liberated territories and the safe return of displaced people to their homes, so Armenia will not only have to come to terms with the resurgence of Azerbaijani Karabakh but also accept the realities that follow, which will directly determine security and the establishment of lasting peace in the region.