Azerbaijan starts demining at suspected mass grave site in liberated Fuzuli

The mine clearance on the territory, where the mass grave is assumed to be located, has begun in the liberated Fuzuli district's Ashagi Seyidahmadli village.

The Mine Action Agency of Azerbaijan (ANAMA) organized a media tour in this connection, APA reports.

ANAMA officials stressed that this area is extremely contaminated with mines.

They noted that based on the testimony of persons who had been taken prisoners and hostages during the first Karabakh war and their family members, and given that there might be a mass grave in the village, it was decided to conduct a search.

With the entire area of the village mined, ANAMA has initiated demining operations.

The agency official Gabil Babayev said that the area where the mass grave of those missing from the first Karabakh war is suspected to be is 4 hectares. In 10 days, 59 anti-tank mines were found: "The area was heavily contaminated with mines. The enemy knew that people would be searching for the graves of their loved ones, so they mined the area en masse. At present, 15 per cent of the total area has been cleared of mines. Many mines are visible, indicating that more will be discovered in the future.”

Another ANAMA employee, Bahruz Mammadov, a resident of the village of Gazakhlar in the Fuzuli district, said he was 11 years old when Armenians attacked their village and took his father hostage: "I hope to find something about my father at the alleged mass grave site.”

An official of the agency, Mushfig Namazov, added that the Armenian army is literally riddled with mines: "A mine is an invisible enemy, and citizens should avoid visiting un-cleared areas.”

After the 44-day Second Karabakh War, ANAMA teams found 81,000 unexploded ordnance and mines in the liberated territories, 14,000 of which were anti-tank mines.