Clearing way home: ANAMA continues rapid demining across Azerbaijan’s Karabakh

The Azerbaijan National Agency for Mine Action (ANAMA) has released its latest weekly report detailing significant progress in demining operations within territories recently liberated from occupation.

Between August 11-17, ANAMA teams successfully detected and neutralized a total of 153 anti-personnel mines, 30 anti-tank mines, and 673 unexploded ordnance (UXO) items across multiple districts, Caliber.Az reports, citing the agency.

The affected areas include Tartar, Aghdam, Kalbajar, Aghdara, Khojaly, Khojavand, Lachin, Shusha, Fuzuli, Gubadli, Jabrayil, and Zangilan districts, as well as the city of Khankandi.

In total, 1,362.7 hectares of land have been cleared, restoring safety and enabling renewed access for local communities and development efforts.

Azerbaijan has significantly intensified its mine clearance operations across the Karabakh region, where landmines planted by Armenian forces during decades of occupation continue to pose a grave threat to civilian lives and post-conflict recovery. The Azerbaijan National Agency for Mine Action (ANAMA) is spearheading a comprehensive demining campaign, utilizing state-of-the-art equipment and highly trained personnel to locate and neutralize explosive hazards.

Since the end of the Second Karabakh War in 2020, landmines have claimed the lives or injured 399 individuals, bringing the total number of victims since the 1990s to over 3,400 — including numerous women and children. Armenia’s continued refusal to provide accurate maps of mined areas and the deliberate placement of mines in civilian zones have further exacerbated the humanitarian crisis on the ground.

Mine clearance has become a strategic and humanitarian imperative for Azerbaijan. ANAMA has so far cleared approximately 140,000 hectares of contaminated land. Despite these efforts, vast areas remain dangerous, significantly delaying the safe return of nearly 800,000 displaced Azerbaijanis and hindering reconstruction and development efforts across the region.

By Vafa Guliyeva