Azerbaijani soldier injured in Kalbajar mine blast

An Azerbaijani soldier was wounded in a mine explosion in the Kalbajar district, an area heavily contaminated with explosives left behind after years of conflict.

According to local media, the serviceman, identified as E. Tanriverdiyev, born in 1986, was injured after stepping on a mine. He was promptly hospitalised, and his condition is currently reported as stable. An investigation into the incident has been launched.

The explosion underscores the continuing threat posed by landmines in areas reclaimed by Azerbaijan following the 2020 Second Karabakh War. Since the end of hostilities, mines laid by Armenian forces have killed or injured more than 400 people. The total number of mine-related casualties in Azerbaijan since the early 1990s now exceeds 3,400, with hundreds of women and children among the victims.

The Azerbaijani government has consistently blamed Armenia for worsening the crisis by failing to provide comprehensive and accurate minefield maps. Officials have also accused Yerevan of deliberately placing mines in civilian areas, obstructing reconstruction efforts and endangering displaced residents returning to their homes.

To date, nearly 140,000 hectares of land have been cleared of explosives, yet vast territories remain unsafe, delaying the return of an estimated 800,000 internally displaced persons. Mine clearance operations, led by the Azerbaijan National Agency for Mine Action (ANAMA), have been designated a national priority and receive significant state funding. The country has also expanded its domestic capacity, notably through the deployment of all-women demining teams.

Despite these efforts, Azerbaijani authorities continue to stress that international assistance is vital to address the scale of the challenge and ensure the long-term rehabilitation of the affected regions. Experts estimate that demining could take up to 30 years and cost as much as $25 billion.

As part of post-war negotiations, Armenia handed over minefield maps for the Aghdam, Fuzuli, and Zangilan districts, which purportedly identified the locations of 189,000 anti-tank and anti-personnel mines. These were followed by additional maps covering other liberated territories, exchanged for the release of Armenian saboteurs captured after the war.

However, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has stated that the maps’ accuracy does not exceed 25 per cent. ANAMA has gone further, reporting that the maps' practical usefulness for mine clearance has been as low as 2 per cent.

By Tamilla Hasanova