Azerbaijani man injured in Agdam landmine blast undergoing surgery in Barda His condition is severe/UPDATED

A 29-year-old Azerbaijani man, who was injured as a result of a mine explosion in Ahmadaghali village of Agdam District, has been hospitalized in the emergency department of Barda district central hospital, the relatives of the victim told Report.

According to them, the man's condition is assessed as severe and he is now undergoing surgery.

12:44

A 29-year-old man has been injured as a result of a mine explosion in Ahmadaghali village of Azerbaijan's Agdam District.

On March 3, an anti-personnel mine explosion occurred in Ahmadaghali village of Agdam District, the press service of the Azerbaijani Interior Ministry told Caliber.Az.

As a result of the incident, a resident of Agdam district Bakhtiyar Yagub oglu Abbasov (born in 1995) was wounded in both legs.

According to the ministry, the man was grazing cattle in an area near the former line of contact that had not been cleared of mines.

"The Interior Ministry, the Prosecutor General's Office and ANAMA once again urge citizens to observe safety rules and not to enter unfamiliar territory," the report says.

Since the Second Karabakh War in 2020, more than 340 Azerbaijanis, including civilians and servicemen, have been victim to mine blasts that caused over 65 deaths and 280 injuries.

The mine action in the liberated territories of Azerbaijan launched by the Azerbaijan Mine Action Agency (ANAMA) shortly after the 2020 war revealed the heavy contamination of the residential areas, agricultural lands, riverbanks, forests, and cemeteries with landmines and unexploded ordnance.

Armenia provided Azerbaijan with eight maps allegedly detailing the minefields in the territories liberated from occupation, specifically the locations of the mined areas encompassing the Murovdagh range in the Kalbajar district. 

However, as with previously submitted maps, the information provided in these latest maps remain imprecise, unreliable, and incomplete, according to ANAMA.

According to normative technical regulations, minefield maps should include reference points, types, numbers, spacing of the mines, and methods of laying and concealing them.

The accuracy of previously provided information on minefields laid by Armenia in the Aghdam, Fuzuli, Jabrayil, and Zangilan districts of Azerbaijan was only 25 per cent.

In 2023, in joint efforts by ANAMA, the Defence Ministry, the Emergencies Ministry, and the State Border Service of Azerbaijan, around 53,082 hectares (128,700 acres) of territory in the liberated lands were cleared of mines. The number of neutralized anti-personnel mines, anti-tank mines, and unexploded ordnances were 3,495, 5,034, and 23,049, respectively. 

The government of Azerbaijan estimates at least one million mines laid by Armenia during the years of occupation.