Over 1.5 million Armenian landmines threaten peace in South Caucasus

Azerbaijan has cleared a tenth of the mine-contaminated territories of Azerbaijan despite the existing challenges, according to the country's Foreign Ministry.

Ambassador-at-Large of the Ministry, Elshad Iskenderov, said on June 19 at the "Mine-Free South Caucasus" event organised on the sidelines of the inter-sessional meeting of the Convention on the Ban of Anti-Personnel Mine with the support of the European LINKS Foundation and the European Union, that as a result of the 30-year-long  Armenian occupation about 10% of Azerbaijan was deliberately contaminated with mines and more than one and a half million mines were planted in these territories.

He added that landmines are still one of the major threats that impede the achievement of sustainable peace in the region and the ongoing large-scale restoration and construction work, as well as target the civilian population hindering the return and peaceful residence of internally displaced persons, APA reports.

"Only for the period from November 2020 to the present, as a result of 179 incidents in the liberated territories, 57 of our citizens were killed, and 247 were seriously injured," Iskandarov said.

He also noted that Armenia, violating the requirements of International Humanitarian Law, still refuses to provide accurate mine maps to Azerbaijan.

Albrecht von Wittke, Head of Conventional Disarmament, Arms Control and CSBM Worldwide, and Preventive Arms Control Division at the German Federal Foreign Office, Permanent Representative of Georgia to the UN Geneva Center Alexander Maisuradze, Executive Director of the European LINK Foundation Dennis Sammut also spoke at the event.

Speakers stressed that mines are a serious obstacle to sustainable peace and development in the South Caucasus region, and they also need international solidarity to address this great humanitarian problem.

Mine threat

The Karabakh (Garabagh) and East Zangazur regions of Azerbaijan had been heavily mined by Armenia’s forces since the 1990s. Following the Soviet Union’s dissolution in 1991, Armenia launched a full-blown military assault against Azerbaijan. The bloody war lasted until a ceasefire in 1994 and saw Armenia occupying 20 per cent of Azerbaijan’s internationally-recognized territories. Over 30,000 Azerbaijanis were killed and one million others were expelled from those lands in a brutal ethnic cleansing campaign carried out by Armenia.

On September 27, 2020, the decades-old conflict between the two countries reignited after Armenia’s forces illegally deployed in occupied Azerbaijani lands shelled military positions and civilian settlements of Azerbaijan. During the counter-attack operations that lasted 44 days, Azerbaijani forces liberated over 300 settlements, including the cities of Jabrayil, Fuzuli, Zangilan, Gubadli, and Shusha, from the Armenian occupation. The war ended with a tripartite statement signed on November 10, 2020, by Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Russia, under which Armenia also returned the occupied Aghdam, Kalbajar, and Lachin districts to Azerbaijan.

Since the end of hostilities, the Azerbaijani government has been carrying out demining operations in the liberated territories to expedite the return of internally displaced persons.

ANAMA’s mine disposal teams, specialists from the Ministry of Emergency Situations, the Border Services Command, and the Turkish Armed Forces have been conducting demining operations in the liberated territories. ANAMA deploys cutting-edge Turkish, British, Slovak, and Croatian production machinery to facilitate the process. A minesweeper of local production, known as Revival-P1, has also joined the mine action. The agency has also signed a contract with the British Arpies NRC company to conduct aerial research in the liberated territories using drones and various devices.

Despite extensive efforts, demining operations faced many challenges due to Armenia’s refusal to hand over maps displaying the locations of the landmines. Azerbaijan obtained minefield maps from Armenia for the Aghdam, Fuzuli, and Zangilan districts, which were previously occupied, and which reportedly identify the coordinates of 189,000 anti-tank and anti-personnel mines. Armenia also provided the Azerbaijani side with mine maps of other liberated territories of Azerbaijan. However, ANAMA reported that these maps were just 2 per cent effective in mine action.

International experts estimate that it will take nearly 30 years and $25 billion to solve issues related to demining.