Every cleared mine marks progress toward recovery – Azerbaijani presidential aide

Hikmet Hajiyev, Assistant to the President of Azerbaijan and Head of the Foreign Policy Affairs Department of the Presidential Administration, has shared a post on X highlighting the ongoing mine threat facing the country.

Landmines remain one of the gravest legacies of the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict and continue to claim lives long after active hostilities have ceased.

Since November 10, 2020, Azerbaijan has recorded 427 mine victims — 73 killed and 354 injured — including 231 civilians. Since… pic.twitter.com/R7NAu64CE9

— Hikmet Hajiyev (@HikmetHajiyev) June 9, 2026

“Landmines remain one of the gravest legacies of the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict and continue to claim lives long after active hostilities have ceased.

Since November 10, 2020, Azerbaijan has recorded 427 mine victims — 73 killed and 354 injured — including 231 civilians. Since 1991, the total number of mine victims has exceeded 3,500 people, among them 362 children and youth and 38 women.

Beyond the tragic human toll, widespread mine contamination remains a major obstacle to the safe return of displaced families, reconstruction of liberated territories, economic development and agriculture. Every mine discovered and cleared represents not only a life potentially saved, but also a step toward recovery,” Hajiyev wrote.

Hajiyev emphasised that mine action is not merely a security issue but a humanitarian imperative and a prerequisite for sustainable reconstruction and development.

By Jeyhun Aghazada